In bold white letters across a two minute long trailer, the documentary Race to Nowhere boldly asserts in a statement: “Our children are in a race to be the smartest, to test the highest, to the achieve the most. The competition is fierce but in the race to be the best our kids are paying the price.”

The documentary was created by Vicki H. Abeles, a disheartened mother who had firsthand experience seeing the price her daughter had to get an education and rising to the top. Fueled with contempt and concern for her daughter’s well being she decided to speak out against the American education system through a more effective medium, which is in the form of a now critically acclaimed documentary.

The same subject is brought up in the trailer; the idea of having too much pressure brought upon students, who inevitably are on a race to nowhere.

This is especially frustrating for parents who watch their children spend long hours on homework assignments, extra curricular activities and volunteering.

It is expected for some children to buckle under this pressure, but with hundreds and thousands of students overwhelmed, this becomes a national concern that must be addressed.

What is the American Educational system doing to students? To begin, schools need to invest in more counselors that can reach out to students on an individual level and not on a basis of a number or roster.

Better psychiatric care is unfortunately a necessity for students who need an additional method of dealing with the demands of high school.

Nonetheless, the most important question many have right now is whether or not students are in a race to end up nowhere. The answer is: no.

However, compared to the educational system in China, Japan or Central Europe, the American system is lagging way behind their counterparts. If anything, this competitive system needs to get even more aggressive in order for American students to catch up to students around the world.

But students will get to college and will get jobs in the future. It is just a matter of fixing the faults in American education. The system needs to start pushing children harder, but not in the sense that the teachers need to pile on more homework.

If anything, this competitive system needs to get even more aggressive if the American students need to catch up to students around the world. The system needs to start pushing children harder, but not in the sense that the teachers need to pile on more homework.

The nature of competition is harsh, but it does not have to be that students end up nowhere. The competition that is spoken of needs to be made fair so that every student has a chance at success and can lead to productive education and jobs.

And for some students who take the competition lightly they may not end up in a place that they think they deserve. Nurturing and coddling students through the entire 12 years of education will only hinder their chances at success.