Race to Nowhere

I went to see this film yesterday, Race to Nowhere. And now I know I’m not alone with my views on the insanity of our children’s lives (read my recent blog). The film pretty much stated all the items I wrote about, sometimes even verbatim. They were talking about the “robotization” of children, their incredible workload from school that prevents them from going outside to play, the terrible lack of sleep and its consequences, their increasing levels of stress (doctors and psychologists comment brilliantly), the systematic destruction of children’s imagination and creativity, and ultimately their unpreparedness for “real” life, work etc. Go and watch it if you can – it’s being screened worldwide, and although its subtitle is The Dark Side of America’s Achievement Culture, I think we’re not just talking about America here. Yes, we all had stress at school, yes, we were all brought up to get good grades (and developed outstanding cheating skills in the process), and yes, we sometimes had to spend a whole afternoon doing homework. But what has happened over the last 10 odd years seriously needs to slow down. I don’t want to take part in this race.