Stressed out students

Today Taylor came across a very interesting radio show on NPR about the stress students experience in the American education system. Vicki Abeles, a filmmaker and mother of 3, created a documentary called "Race to Nowhere," which captures the stories of students, parents, and teachers caught in a system the demands educational quantity over quality. Essentially, the American educational system is test-oriented and not centered on the student's whole development.

This perspective is particularly interesting as world education reports show students in China and other Asian countries are out-ranking their American peers, who were deemed "average" in most recent studies. Policymakers believe this is evidence to push students even harder with longer school days, longer school years, more extra-curricular activities, and tougher assignments and classes.

But at what cost? Students are stressed out and crumbling under the pressure as they desperately try to keep up. They are loading up on college prep courses and filling the rest of their schedules with sports, arts, volunteering, etc. There is little "free time" for students to learn through play and discovery, and students are missing out on their childhoods. As a result, students are not prepared for the "real world." Abeles says it best with this statement:

“I think today’s system isn’t generating kids who are independent thinkers and ready to contribute to the world,” Abeles says. “So I think we have to ask ourselves whether we are wanting to create a generation of test-takers and resume-builders, or do we want problem-solvers and life-long learners and healthy young adults.”

If you click on this link, you'll find the complete radio show on this topic, as well as the trailer for the film. I haven't seen the movie, but from what I have heard, read, and seen, it's definitely worth a look. As a high-performing student myself, I know firsthand the pressures kids in America experience in the schools in the race to "get ahead." In fact, I recently wrote a post about this very issue as an adult in graduate school! As much as I say I am going to relax and let myself off the hook, the reality is I am pushing myself just as hard as I did in high school and college.

Good grades are certainly nothing to be ashamed of, but they aren't the only indicator of success, as they only measure one aspect of a person's intelligence. We need to realize test scores and grades aren't everything, and adjust the way we structure our educational system accordingly. After all, what good are straight As if you can't think critically and creatively to function in the "real world?" The grade at the end of the term isn't nearly as important as the knowledge I have gained, and I need to keep that in mind as I approach the winter quarter.

Now if only I could get the scholarship people to recognize that fact...