Film raises questions about education policy in U.S.

Are parents raising transcripts rather than healthy kids? This question was addressed in the documentary film "A Road to Nowhere," which was shown in Booker Hall on Sunday Oct. 30, by Commonwealth Parenting.

The film raises several questions about the United State's current educational system. Does it place too much emphasis on young people's test scores? Does it yield students who are critical thinkers and innovators? Does the No Child Left Behind Act place too many restrictions on how and what teachers can teach?

Wendy Mogel, a psychologist who was interviewed, makes the point that high schools often put pressure on parents and students about college choices, the SAT and AP classes. She comments that we have an educational system that mechanizes students to become academic competitors. She also says that parents want the best for their children and they believe that can be achieved by getting good grades and going to a great college. Ken Ginsburg, a doctor who was interviewed for the film, said that adolescence is a very hard time to begin with but all the added pressures from school only make it worse.

The film makes the argument that children today are under an enormous amount of stress because of pressure from their parents and teachers, a growing amount of nightly homework, and colleges' emphasis on AP classes and standardized test scores. When students get to college, many of them are not ready to perform at a college level because of the way they have been taught to learn in high school, according to the film. In order to get good grades, many students simply memorize the information, spit it back out on a test and forget it after the test is over. There is a lack of long-term retention of knowledge in our educational system, according to the film.

All of these pressures lead students to take drastic measures such as taking stimulants and/or tranquilizers, binge drink, cheat, develop eating disorders, become depressed, dropout of school and commit suicide.

Rick McKeel, the executive director of the Regional Drug Free Alliance, commented on these behaviors, saying: "These kids are starting to binge drink profusely at ages 12, 13 and 14, and then they get into high school and are drinking to deal with the stress. Let me tell you, it's prevalent. That's how they deal with the stress and that way to deal with the stress is carried over into college."

Dr. Thomas Shields, Director of the Center for Leadership in Education at the University of Richmond, described what this film's message meant for college students here.

"I think we're getting the products of these K-12 schools and so we get them after they've been through this type of system and after they've had so much pressure put on them," he said. "What we're seeing a lot of is, not that they're not bright students, we have some of the best and the brightest, but can they problem solve?

"Can they think critically? I think that is what [first-year seminar] is really about. FYS is really trying to have students think broadly, write well, and through technology and global and community awareness, think differently. I think it is working."

Contact reporter Taylor Procopio at taylor.procopio@richmond.edu