Sharon Reaches Checkpoint In Race To Nowhere

"I have a project due tomorrow!" one student shouted from the back of the school auditorium Wednesday night.

Students, parents and educators had packed the room to watch "Race to Nowhere," a documentary about students' school-related pressure to succeed in a specific way -- from homework, grades and handling enough activities to impress the best colleges.

Some Sharon High students personalized the film's messages during the discussion afterward, and even just as it ended.

"I love to play the piano, but I was probably better in the eighth grade, because I had time to play," one girl said.

"I love to play soccer and play in the rain, but I don't have time to do that."

The Sharon public schools and the Sharon Education Foundation sponsored the free film screening.

Seniors Michelle Buyer and Nicole Gullotti helped Principal Jose Libano with the event. They both told the crowd they saw the film earlier, and one said she "saw a huge resemblance to the competitive nature of our high school."

"What you will see tonight, I'm sure you know something about. Or otherwise, we wouldn't have such a blowout crowd," School Superintendent Barbara Dunham told the audience.

SEF Co-President Kathy Hershfield said she hoped the crowd would "use tonight as a beginning to address those concerns in the film."

The 85-minute film shows students, parents, educators and professionals discussing how students handle society's demands on them.

Learning and teaching for tests, student cheating and mental health issues were among the byproducts.

"You try to stuff as much information into your brain as possible, and as soon as you're done, out it goes," one boy said in the film.

"We're all caught up in it," one mom added. "We're all afraid our kids won't be as successful as we are."

The Sharon High faculty saw the film Wednesday morning.

Social Studies Coordinator Chuck Fazzio said the problem goes "beyond the homework, the kind of stress we as a community put on them."

"We typically get hung up on homework. If you think the only problem is homework, then you missed the bigger message in this film," Fazzio said.

SEF Co-President Dianne Needle noted that this is college admission time, and references to it in the film resonated with her.

"You go to a cocktail party now and that's the first thing that you get: 'Did he get in?'" Needle said.

"The parents, I think, they're on that treadmill, and it's really hard to get off of it."

One father said parents want their kids "to get into the schools that we didn't get into."

Many parents raised their hands when Needle gauged their interest in an upcoming speaker on social issues.

Child psychologist Michael Thompson, author of "Raising Cain: Protecting the Emotional Life of Boys," will speak here March 3 at a Sharon site to be determined, Needle said.

Thompson is also familiar with Race to Nowhere, and will field questions about it beyond his talk, Needle said.