Race to Nowhere

For most driven students, achieving straight As on their report cards is simply not good enough.  In this day and age, the pressure for kids to perform well in every aspect of their lives is massive.  Students are expected to get amazing grades, be the star of a sports team, have the lead role of the play, and still find time for other hobbies that make them “unique” and set them apart from their peers.  Vicki Abeles, a mother with children in elementary and middle school, saw the negative effects that this country’s flawed education system has had on her children and decided to do something about it.  Her documentary, “Race to Nowhere”, shows the unbearable stress that takes over the lives of the youth as a result of unrealistic expectations coming from every direction.

“Race to Nowhere” shows the negative consequences of the flaws in schooling and pressure from parents.  Hours upon hours of homework cause sleep deprivation, severe stress, and mental and emotional problems.  The pressure from parents to achieve perfection leads kids to resort to cheating and cramming for tests.  In schools that only value the grades on tests, students merely spit out memorized information and forget it all the second the test is over. One teacher, Darrick Smith, points out that the pressure for students to produce leaves out the processing of the information (Race to Nowhere, 41:10). Students are not truly learning, and teachers are not helping students harness their ability to critically think and be creative.  Vicki Abeles addresses all these problems in her documentary by following the experiences of her own children as well as interviewing students, teachers, parents, employers, and psychologists.  She features students of all ages, backgrounds, and socioeconomic statuses and focuses on the stories of several students that were held back by some of these problems.  Her own children have so much homework that they get headaches, lack sleep, and have no free time to play outside or hangout with friends.  Other students in the film suffered from eating disorders and emotional breakdowns, had to quit playing sports, and one young girl even went as far as committing suicide.  Abele stresses the need for significant change within schools as well as a change in the way parents approach their children.

“Race to Nowhere” is Abele’s attempt at starting an educational revolution.  She sends the message that this country needs to wake up and realize that their children are being emotionally and mentally damaged by this faulty school system, and more focus must be put on fostering happiness, creativity, and critical thinking skills within each individual.  Some of the most crucial scenes in the film really emphasize this emotional damage.  For instance, a 13-year-old girl named Devon commit suicide because of the intolerable internal pressure she placed on herself to excel in her life.  Abele interviews Devon’s mother, who chokes up as she blames the suicide on “a stupid math test” that Devon had recently failed.  Abele fills the screen with pictures of this vibrant, young girl while a mournful piano is playing the background.

A similar scene occurs when a psychologist gives a testimony about a girl who came into her office wearing a long sleeved shirt and pulls up one of the sleeves to show that she had carved the word “empty” in her arm with a razor (16:10).  The psychologist describes how so many adolescents appear happy and put together but they are metaphorically, and sometimes literally, bleeding underneath it all.  These scenes shows the vital need to keep children emotionally stable by lightening their load and taking off pressure to perform, because it can have extreme consequences if something doesn’t change.  One teacher, Darrick Smith, memorably notes that parents are always confused as to why their child is experiencing emotional problems because he or she is a “good kid”, but he remarks “No, they’re a good performer.  You never knew if they were a good kid. You never found out if they were a good solid kid. You knew they were a good student” (Race to Nowhere, 59:30).

At the end of the documentary, Abele lists way for students, parents, and teachers to improve the educational experiences of students.  She notes that parents should not add pressure to their children and focus more on their happiness by creating family time and reiterating the importance of play.  Instead of piling on hours of homework each night, Abele suggests that teachers should assign less homework to leave room for students’ family time and play, which would significantly improve children’s emotional wellbeing.  She also suggests that teachers find alternative methods of evaluating students besides tests and to encourage students to have more of a voice within the classroom (Race to Nowhere, 1:22:50).  More schools should be modeled after the Blue School, which institutes those methods of learning and allows children to be creative and think freely without tests and hours of homework.  However, Abele does not really offer many more solutions or alternatives to testing.  She states that there should be alternatives, but does not pinpoint any strategies.  She also does not mention any specific policy actions for viewers to participate in, besides simply attending school board or policy meetings.

According to an interview with Abele conducted by John Merrow, the documentary was intended to be viewed by all parents, students, and educators in order to spread the word and create a new atmosphere of learning.  This film has been widely recognized by its targeted audience, and these viewers have made the film popular by word of mouth, as the film has no commercial distributor. Abele claims that “this isn’t just a film; it’s a grassroots phenomenon” (Merrow).

Merrow, John. “‘Race to Nowhere:’ It’s No ‘Waiting for ‘Superman’, ‘ but It’s Honest.”The Huffington Post. N.p., 10 June 2010. Web. 20 Feb. 2013.

Race to Nowhere. Dir. Vicki Abeles. Reel Link Films, 2010. Web.