Kids, Stress, Overeating and the Race to Nowhere: Graehm Gray

Mar 26 2011

Kids, Stress, Overeating and the Race to Nowhere: Graehm Gray

I recently attended a screening for the movie entitled, “Race to Nowhere.” It’s an excellent, realistic story about the stress and pressure that our kids are going through. The pressure from the enormous amount of homework that is given to cover all of the material in the lesson plan. Pressure to take honors and advanced placement courses to bump up the grade point average over the previously top “4.0”. Pressure to get the, “A” and load the high-school resume with everything from proficiency in sports and musical instruments to demonstrating a serious commitment to community service. Pressure to get into the “best” school –whether it’s college for high-schoolers or even a top tier lower, middle and upper school for our younger kids. Pressure to look unique and stand out amongst all of the top applicants. Pressure felt by the parents and their kids. Pressure to succeed. And what is this pressure doing to our children? What is this pressure doing to us as parents? In some cases it is having a deleterious effect on the child, on the parent and on the family. The rates of teenage suicide are climbing. Clinical depression is being seen more and more in the teenage population by psychologists. We already know that the use of caffeinated beverages, energy drinks and stimulants are also on the rise in this age group. We have research showing that pre-teen and college age kids are doing less exercise and eating less healthy. Where will this all end?

For some kids, the pressure results in overeating, weight gain and becoming overweight. And we know how hard it is to get the weight off once it is gained. From overweight, it’s easy to fall into the obesity category and from there, the secondary medical problems that arise-high blood pressure, high cholesterol, heart disease and diabetes. It’s an ominous course for our youth-a course that we have seemingly designed for them. Yes, it’s our fault. Because of this incredible pressure to compete and succeed, we have unknowingly constructed a model for our children to fail. Sure, many of our kids will overcome the obstacles and survive the system-but not without some wounds. How many of these overachievers have sacrificed their bodies, their health, their socialization and their youthful happy and fun times, to get into that “best” school?

More than 2 hours of homework-REALLY!

As our world continues to evolve, we have many nations that are now sending more of their kids to college. The United States used to be ahead of the education curve. Now we find ourselves behind, in many disciplines. So as a result, our political leaders have mandated that we should improve the educational system, “leave no child behind,” and produce more educated youth. To compete in this global society, our children will need to learn more, increase their knowledge base, and perform at a higher level. The teachers have to teach a lesson plan that is overloaded with material in order to accomplish their goals. To do this, to keep up with the amount of material they need to cover, they rely on homework. A minimal amount of homework has been found to be positively correlated with success. However, it seems that in most schools, private and public, there is no coordination amongst the faculty with the homework schedule. It is not uncommon for kids beginning in the 6^th grade to have several hours of homework from all of their classes. This progresses to high school, where a child that is taking a class schedule loaded with AP (Advanced Placement) and Honors courses, may have more than four to five hours of homework. What! Yes, hours of homework that is to start after the sports, musical, artistic or community service after-school period. You can’t be serious! I am very serious. Tutors and more tutors. Trying to find the edge. You can see how this loaded, restricted, daily agenda can be overwhelming. And our kids do this very pattern five days a week. Oh the weekends-usually spent doing more homework and projects. Here are what many college admissions counselors, who are contributing to this problem, say when they see the applicants: you only have a 4.0! You are only taking 5 AP courses? how many instruments do you play at an expert level?; have you tried to save the world or develop new sources of “green” energy? Distinguish yourself to us! What!

And parents, how many times do you hear a conversation about a tutor or the regimen of another successful child, and then run home and try to implement it for our child. How many times do we contribute to this mayhem? A lot! Not to mention the relationship between the parent and child that suffers.

Here are some examples of behaviors a stressed child may exhibit-do these look familiar?

Irritable, cranky
Depressed
Always playing video games/on computer -doesn’t want to leave his/her room
Overeating-eating lots of sugary snacks
Not eating-losing weight
Jittery, nervous, not focused
Doesn’t want the parents to help with homework or school work
Doesn’t say anything about school day
Sloppy, doesn’t take care of room, doesn’t care about personal hygiene
Bad mood
Looking for an argument about anything
Withdrawn
Getting up in the middle of the night
Doesn’t want to sit at the family table for meals. Doesn’t take part in family discussions.

Overeating, anorexia, consuming too much caffeinated- stimulant loaded beverages, taking drugs-stimulants, overweight, obesity, depression, suicide, lack of exercise, developing medical problems at an earlier age than one is suppose to-these are many of the issues that surround today’s school age child.

What can we do? Here are a few suggestions:

Push for less homework and a coordination of homework amongst teachers
Place less emphasis on AP and Honors courses and even restrict the amount that any student can take per cycle.
Place an emphasis on learning about healthy nutrition, eating healthy and fitness for all students starting in lower school and continuing through college.
Make the school day longer to accomplish lesson plan goals so that there is less homework and more time for the child to play, exercise, socialize and develop their mental, physical and spiritual awareness.
Make teachers, educators, administrators and college admission counselors aware of the stress that children and their parents are experiencing.
Look closely at the lesson plans and structure the material so that the kids are learning substantive information and knowledge and not simply testable material.

My friends please see this movie with your kids. It’s an important film that should be viewed by all parents, teachers, school administrators and college admissions committees. We need to channel the pressure we have placed on our children into a more positive outlet-for our children’s present and future health and wellbeing. We do need to End This Race to Nowhere.

Stay fit and healthy The Nerdel Way.

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