Just as new data indicate that college freshmen are at their lowest point in emotional health in 25 years, a new film on the stresses of high-stakes testing is unveiling what lies beneath the numbers at screenings nationwide.
In the survey, “The American Freshman: National Norms Fall 2010,” released last week by UCLA’s Higher Education Research Institute, only 52 percent of first-year students in four-year colleges said they have above-average emotional health. That’s down from 64 percent in 1985. About 200,000 freshmen were involved in the process.
The new documentary “Race to Nowhere” highlights issues affecting the country’s youth, including anorexia, anxiety, depression and drug abuse, that stem from high-stakes testing and the pressure to succeed. It is being screened for six months through a community viewing campaign.
“The film is the starting point for change,” says filmmaker Vicki Abeles, “It is raising widespread awareness that our pressure-cooker culture and education system isn’t serving many of our children.”
Abeles, a concerned parent who lives in California, features physicians, academics, policymakers, administrators, students and parents in the documentary.
“I didn’t think when I had kids that the only time I’d see them was for 20 minutes at dinner,” she says in the film.
The documentary spotlights overworked kids who spend sleepless nights just to fit in several hours of homework, sports, community service and other responsibilities. Pushed to build a sparkling résumé to be admitted to college, many kids burn out.
