Overscheduled Kids: are we guilty?
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Can a child be overscheduled?
According to ABC News, “A pair of studies are at odds on the question — with one saying kids need more time to let their minds dream, and another saying a busy schedule can correspond with success.” If you ask Amy Chua (the author of the now famous article about how she reared Ivy league girls by not allowing playdates or sleepovers but kept them busy with academics and music) – the answer would be that a busy schedule does correspond with success (but, of course, it would have to be the right schedule).
Filmaker Vicki Abeles believes that kids are too overscheduled and in her movie, “The Race to Nowhere”, she attempts to show that “rushing from class to sports practice, from community work to homework, and relying increasingly on stimulants and sleep deprivation, these kids seem more pressured than the average C.E.O. Documenting consequences that range from depression to eating disorders to suicide, the film’s medical professionals share Ms. Abeles’s alarm and her awareness that blame, if it exists, is systemic and with little current incentive to change.”. (via The New York Times)
This Thursday night you can view the investigation made by Abeles in her film at a special advanced screening of the “Race to Nowhere”. There will be a panel discussion following the film moderated by Jodi Rudoren, Deputy Editor of the NY Times Metro Section and will feature David Bryfman of the Jewish Education Project, Jill Bloomberg, Principal of the School of Research at John Jay, Marc Sternberg, Deputy Chancellor for Portfolio Planning at the Department of Education and Karen Levenberg, ECC Teacher.
The New York Times review of the movie states that, “the bad news is that (the filmmaker) doesn’t entirely succeed; the good news is that she and her co-director, Jessica Congdon, admirably convey the complexity of the issue with considerably more compassion than prescription.”
Details:
Thursday, March 31st at 6:30 P.M.
Congregation Beth Elohim’s Ballroom
274 Garfield Place Brooklyn
For more information please call
(718) 499-6208
For tickets, please go here.
This event is also a fundraiser for the ECC so if you are interested please purchase your tickets online using the link above.
This is an excellent movie and a very informative post too!
If you missed this screening at Beth Elohim, or if you saw it and want to make sure your friends see the movie too, there is now another chance. Wednesday April 13 at 7:00 pm is the next opportunity to see Race To Nowhere. The screening is also a fundraiser for Brooklyn School of Inquiry PTO. There will be a discussion afterward, featuring Neil Weintraub, child psychotherapist and tutor, and Marcia Osgood, high school guidance counselor. Tickets can be purchased here: http://www.racetonowhere.com/epostcard/4630 BSI is located at 50 Avenue P (at Stillwell Avenue).