It remains to be seen if the film will become what it aims to be, which is a game-changer. Before that will happen, it needs to be a conversation starter. And it will give you a lot to think about.
Consider the following "nuggets" pulled from the film (I am quoting from some rough notes I took while watching it, so the transcription may not be exact):
- "Everybody talks about getting their kid into the best school. There is no "best school"; what you should be looking for is the best match."
- On college kids who had to check into stress clinics to recover from the performance stress at the end of academic terms: one college official cites parents who express shock - "How could this happen? They're a good kid." And he answers them, "No, they're a good performer. You never knew if they were a good kid."
- On communities that pride themselves on high test scores at schools: "Community is not about boasting that all is right with the world. Community is like being family; it's being yourself."
"Race to Nowhere" was produced by Vicki Abeles, a mom from Northern California who observed the toll performance pressure was taking on her kids. After her 12-year-old daughter was rushed to the hospital with stress-related illness, she began to investigate what exactly was happening in schools to stress kids out - and more importantly, to question whether it was all worth it.
One of the most heartbreaking parts of the film is when her 3rd grade son testifies to the headaches and stomachaches he feels when he's "stressed out". Um, excuse me? Third-graders should not be "stressed out" - ever. To feel stress is to be aware that someone else is holding performance expectations over you. That's inappropriate enough for a kid of that age, but "stressed out" implies that the pressure has gone on long enough that the target of the stress - the kid - is starting to break down.
The examples in the film get more grim from there. You meet a girl who discovered she could stay up later (and "get so much done") if she didn't eat. She developed anorexia. After a stint at a clinic, she returned to her school, only to be asked by the principal to leave: her weight loss was making other students and teachers worried about her.
It all leads up to the story of 13-year-old Devon Marvin. The 8th grade honor roll student from Danville took her own life when the pressure got to be too much. She was pushed over the edge by a bad grade on a math test.
But it isn't just the effects of stress on students that this film addresses. "Race to Nowhere" also sheds light on high-stakes testing, the college entrance game, the loss of teacher creativity and flexibility (because their jobs have been narrowed to test preparation), the use of drugs by students to stay alert and to relax, and the prevalence of cheating. It barely touches on the industry of SAT test prep, which uses old exams to teach kids "strategies" for gaming the test, turning what should be a measure of student academic potential into another crude and cynical exercise in outperforming an exam. Also alluded to is the dismal reality that vast numbers of high school students admitted to Cal State schools end up needing to take remedial courses. In other words, despite their high test scores and impressive GPAs, they really aren't as smart or proficient as those measures seem to indicate.
And - most importantly - they don't love to learn. School becomes just a joyless enterprise. As one boy in the film describes it, he crams as much information into his brain as he can in preparation for a test, and then, "Two hours later - it's gone." And this causes idealistic young teachers to either harden and accommodate to what the system demands of them, or quit. As a former teacher who got tired of chasing down missing assignments and giving grades, I could identify with the young female teacher interviewed in the film, who became so disgusted with the lack of real learning that was happening that she decided to resign.
It isn't hard to understand why it's gotten to this. Simple economics and demographics paint a grim picture: the Baby Boomers had kids, and there were lots of them. But colleges only have so much room, so competition builds. As the next kid achieves a 4.2 GPA on the strength of his two Advanced Placement courses, your kid suddenly needs a 4.3 and three AP's in order to maintain an advantage. Meanwhile, every parent is keenly aware of the kind of income their kid will need to have in order to have a better life than they do. (And what parent doesn't want that?) The film doesn't go so far as to question whether kids will forever be able to live more affluently than their parents, but it begs the question.
In the end, "Race to Nowhere" is a call to reevaluation and redefinition: what do we mean when we say someone is a "good student" who attends a "good school" with "good teachers"? What should "good grades" represent? But most importantly, what is it all for? The film isn't balanced - and that's the point. The subtitle of "Race to Nowhere" is "The Dark Side of America's Achievement Culture." Clearly, Director Abeles wants us to agree with her that all of this - the super-charged, achieve-at-any-cost, outperform-the-next-kid system that is American education - is damaging to kids and needs to be rethought.
The documentary is thought-provoking, but it stops just short of being compelling. Right now it is being screened at select showings across the country. Apparently a nationwide release is set for March, but the beauty of the early screenings has been that they are all sponsored by organizations which promise to facilitate dialogue sessions as part of the showing. The screening I attended was at Carrillo Elementary, and judging from parents' comments after the film, it was apparent that the movie struck a chord with most of them. But the overall thrust of the film, which is hinted at in the title, is muted and understated. So, for instance, our discussion group spent most of its time talking over whether kids should be given so much homework and pushed to be involved in after school clubs and sports. These are issues broached in the film, to be sure, but they are not the main point, which is that the seeds of over-achievement that are planted in elementary school end up leading...well, to nowhere.
And it is here that Christians should take note, first of all because some of us have unwittingly contributed to a high-stakes culture and not been counter-cultural enough, but also because "Race to Nowhere" can prompt some existential questions about, say, the purpose of life and the value of the mind and the importance of childhood and the meaning of "success". The film doesn't offer answers to any of those questions, from a Christian perspective or another other perspective, but if you take its message to its logical conclusion, those questions are where you end up.
Jesus said, "What good is it for you to gain the whole world, but lose or forfeit your soul?" We should still be asking that question today. And it shouldn't take dangerous threats to our kids' physical health, their self-concepts, and their sanity to get us there.
"Race to Nowhere" is currently showing at select screenings. An early December showing in Carlsbad sold out; another showing for January 6 has also sold out. But check www.racetonowhere.com/screenings for info on other scheduled screenings (for instance, Jan. 12 in Rancho Santa Fe; the film has also been shown in San Diego and Orange County), which continue to be added.
