This past week I was invited to a special showing of a new film “Race to Nowhere” by the Seattle Education Association. This group must have its data base messed up to have me on its invite list!

The Director of this film, Vicki Abeles, a former Wall Street lawyer, made this film as she became concerned about the “pressures” that schools were imposing on her family’s life.

I have read recently, and heard many times from parents, about these stresses also. I can agree with Ms. Abeles that these exist, but not much more.

Her solutions all involve placing less academic demands upon children. As long as I have been on this planet, at least since World War II, we have known that our children are not getting the academic education that is offered in the rest of the developed world, and now some of the “emerging” countries have figured out that quality academic education is a significant path to economic success.

The problems with our children, and their stresses, I believe have far more to do with what used to be considered “Extra Curricular” activities. Some of those deeply involved in this area now wish these activities to be called “Co-Curricular” activities.

If we look at the education systems that have surpassed us, we might find that either of these definitions are about as common as any extinct animal! Focus! Focus on the body of knowledge has led this planet to its unique progress.

Ms. Abeles advocates for the “Limitation or elimination” of Advanced Placement courses in our high schools. AP courses were introduced into high schools because there wasn’t, and still isn’t where this kind of assessment isn’t present, any common understanding of what academic accomplishment looks like. Because colleges depend on the admission of qualified students, they have learned that report card grades have no commonality between teachers or schools.

What does an “A” mean in high school Physics? No one knows! What does a score of “5” on and Advanced Placement Exam in Physics mean? It is a comparison between all who have taken this exam. Most schools may not even tell students there are also SAT subject tests, which used to be called SAT II’s, that also measure the absolute knowledge of those students who take them. Many of the colleges that have touted that they no longer use the SAT as a criteria for admission say, in the fine print, that they want subject tests as a confirmation of scholarship.

Where I disagree with Ms. Abeles is that the “Overload” and “Pressure” that is being placed on our students, is that other areas have subtracted from the time that is available for what used to be considered the task of schools. When we have schools that pride themselves on “Being number one in Hip Hop,” and haven’t ever been recognized for their academics, it would seem that we have our priorities elsewhere than on the target.

Looking over one of the graduation programs from one of our high schools recently, I found several students suggesting that they were going to attend some particular college or university to “Play” some sport! My fondest hope, not realized, would be that no taxpayer’s dollars were going to make this possible. One person who has written criticism of some of my articles had a child graduate this year. Their “awards” were largely in the athletic field, and the college this student will attend has ratings that aren’t exactly sterling. Sadly I feel that taxpayers’ dollars will perpetuate this fantasy.

The stress that our children are experiencing, and the related problems associated with this, seem to be largely due to inadequate time to devote to their studies, and the savageness of the social systems that we allow to exist in our schools. Cliques, gangs, etc are rampant in our schools, and success in these areas seems to be more highly valued than success in what schools were designed to accomplish in the past.

“Mission Creep,” into missions that are peripheral at best, is the cause of this “pressure,” and Ms. Abeles suggests that these other missions are just as important as academics. I was definitely not the right person to invite to this showing if a positive review was sought!