Vicki Abeles: The Road to Nowhere

Family Circle - October 2011 issue - pages 47-48

This morning I had the opportunity to read an article that was recommended to me by my mom. It was in the "local hero" section of the Family Circle magazine and was concerned with the issue of the stress burden being imposed upon students. Actually, the woman featured in the article is a concerned mom that has quit her job in order to bring awareness to the issue. She has produced a full-length movie/documentary on the issue. "[T]he movie asserts that schools are destroying our children's love of learning and ability to think creatively, and rearing a generation of kids who are depressed, disengaged and burned out" (47-48). According to the article, the film is making major waves both in the United States and abroad because it is handling the issue of student-related stress, something that seems to be a largely ignored issue.

The article is quick to point out that teachers and schools are not necessarily the problem, but that the problem lies in the system itself, which needs to be changed if we are to continue to produce students that are engaged in their learning.

How big of an issue is this? I know that we are all stressed out, but is it a product of the system, or our own inability to say "no" to all of the social and extracurricular demands that are asked of us? Is scheduling a viewing of her film for our community a good idea?

The Glass Castle

I just read The Glass Castle with the AP English class. Wow, what a riveting memoir. It was difficult to read sometimes because the conditions of the family were heartbreaking and often seemed unfair. I felt badly for the author so many times because of the way her family had to live and the difficulties she encountered with growing up rough. I think the thing that surprised me the most about this memoir was how smart the children were. The parents in this memoir were completely neglectful and were not aware of their responsibilities as parents to provide for their children, yet all of the children could read by the time they were three! Caden can't even recognize all of his letters yet, let alone read! That is amazing to me!

I recommend this book, but with mixed feelings. Those readers that enjoy memoirs and human-interest stories will probably enjoy this book, but those that prefer fiction or are a bit queasy about reading about the suffering that occurs in other people's lives probably would not enjoy the book. I am wondering if anyone else has read this novel, or is reading it, and what their opinions are.

As someone who liked this book, is there something similar that you would recommend for me to read next that would be along the same lines: a memoir or a non-fiction human interest story?