Race to Nowhere and then some.....

I saw the movie Race to Nowhere last night.

Powerful, although not as powerful as Waiting for Superman.

But, nonetheless very good food for thought!

We don't live outside of NY, LA or Boston so don't think the pressure our kids feel is nearly as bad as kids in those suburban areas. But it does still exist here too. We hold our children to a high standard, as my parents did for me. And there is definitely a fine line between supporting to succeed to get good grades, to work, to perform to your potential and pushing for performance because the child needs to get into a good college.

People are actually making decisions on programs and experiences because they think it will look good on their child's college application resume. Throwing money at program after program, trip after trip because it will look good. They think it will help their child get into a better college.

Are they kidding? What ever happened to valuing experience for experience sake. Just enjoy. Go on one trip. Enjoy that trip, embrace it, experience it. The motives are wrong. The pressure for that college app resume is taking away from the experience.

Not all kids want to go to Africa, South America, Asia - whereever. Did Mom and Dad pick that trip? pay for that trip? Yes, parents can give ideas, help direct a teen's experiences but the REASON for sending a child on any trip or program should be 100% for the experience - not the college app resume. They are doing it for the wrong reason.

I have so far taken 2 of my 3 children to Africa for 3-4 weeks to volunteer when they were in 8th grade. This is not on the college app resume. My goal was to open their eyes to the bigger world, to the developing world, to see first hand how other people live, eat, survive, spent their days.

I am a firm believer that experiences are a huge part of what shapes a person - who they become, what they will do, how they will chose to live their lives.

My children have been very lucky so far in their short lives. They were born abroad, lived abroad and have traveled a lot. They are seasoned travelers and can deal with jet lag, different foods, no sleep, lost luggage, foreign languages etc.

They will carry around with them those memories of their trips forever. The images of the homes, the children, the food, the smells will be with them forever. They have the knowledge that not everyone lives like we do, that not everyone HAS all that we have.

Volunteer travel is a powerful thing. It's too bad so many are doing it for the college app resume....

How did I go from Race to Nowhere to volunteer travel. Yes, apparentely by blog is named correctly - "random ramblings of motherhood".

I talk like this too.