I have heard so much about this film and its message that I agreed* to post information about their upcoming event called “The Sleep Challenge.” You can find much more information on End the Race.org.

In honor of National Sleep Awareness Week (March 5-11), the people who brought you the film, “Race to Nowhere”, are offering physicians and medical professionals across the country the first-ever chance to view the film via a free, online live stream at http://www.racetonowhere.com/physicians

Their hope is that every medical professional in the country will see this film and will support the effort to propose, create and nurture school policies and practices that prioritize balance and health in students’ lives—including making time for sleep.

Hard-Hitting Education Documentary Urges Action on Student Sleep

Now, in recognition of National Sleep Awareness Week (March 5-11, 2012) the team behind “Race to Nowhere” calls on schools to take targeted action on student sleep. The Sleep Challenge, launched on the film’s online action platform End the Race.org, helps students and their families understand the importance of sleep to learning and health. It rallies schools nationwide to explore a range of policies—including later school start times, block scheduling, mandatory study halls, and school-wide bans on caffeine—that shift student schedules to allow for healthy, consistent, nighttime sleep. The challenge is one in a series of calls-to-action supported by the End the Race.org movement.

National Sleep Awareness Week is an annual public education and awareness campaign sponsored by the National Sleep Foundation, a charitable, educational, and scientific not-for-profit organization dedicated to improving sleep health and safety through education, public awareness, and advocacy. The National Sleep Foundation recommends that teenage students receive 9.25 hours of sleep each night but reports that that 15% of teens report sleeping 8.5 hours on school nights.

“Having toured thousands of schools with “Race to Nowhere”, I’ve seen that making time for adequate, healthful sleep is among the most overlooked priorities among schools, parents and teachers,” says Vicki Abeles, the first-time director of “Race to Nowhere”. “An incredible consensus is building that we need to align our educational practices—in the home and in school—with what we know about children’s and adolescent health. And that means committing to school policies that put student sleep first.”

The film has already ignited change in dozens of schools and districts in the wake of “Race to Nowhere” screenings, including:
• Campbell Hall (Los Angeles, CA), which shifted to a later start time.
• Ridgefield High School (Ridgefield, NJ), which shifted to block scheduling.
• Loudoun County Public Schools (VA), which started a district-wide later-start-time initiative.
• Millburn High School (Milburn, NJ), where more than 200 students and parents signed a national petition
for later school start times.
• Bishop O’Dowd School (Oakland, CA), which shifted to a later start time, and restructured the school day
to include more study halls and time for socializing.
• Fairfax County (VA), where over 2,000 survey respondents voted in favor of later start times.

Unique Distribution and Outreach: An independently produced and distributed film—boasting no studio backing or commercial distribution and untethered to third-party corporate or advocacy interests—Race to Nowhere has been distributed uniquely through grassroots, community platforms. Director Vicki Abeles notes that this distinctive distribution approach reflects her priority to link the film to action and on-the-ground social impact. “When you step outside the conventional distribution approach and encourage audiences to engage with film not as consumers but as activists and stakeholders, you begin to see the incredible power of documentary to effect change in our communities,” Abeles says. The film will not be released on retail home DVD until 2012—part of a deliberate strategy to enhance brick- and-mortar community engagement with the film before it’s available for private, home use.

Press Attention for Race to Nowhere:
The Washington Post: “Riveted to this disturbing tableau were more than 300 parents and educators, including Elise Browne Hughes, 46, who wiped away tears one recent evening in Bethesda while watching the documentary “Race to Nowhere,” which is becoming a growing grassroots phenomenon in the achievement-minded Washington area and beyond. “It’s in the culture, and it kind of feeds on itself,” said Hughes, a mother of two sons who paid $10 for a ticket and braved the heavy rain to watch the film at Walt Whitman High School. For her and thousands of others nationwide, the film has raised difficult questions about how to raise well-adjusted children at a time when schools seem test- obsessed, advanced classes are the norm and parents worry that their children will not go as far in life as they have.” (10/7/2010)
Katie Couric, former CBS News Anchor: “I interviewed Vicki Abeles on my web show today and was struck by her message. ‘Schools are not factories’, she argues, ‘and children aren’t products to be fixed and tested.’ Over- scheduled, stressed-out kids aren’t just less competitive, they are miserable. One study found that 15% of U.S. high school students had seriously considered suicide. This film is a poignant reminder that straight A’s and high SAT scores are not the Holy Grail. We all want our kids to excel, but I’d take a happy child over a ‘depressed success’ any day of the week.” (3/1/2011)
The Washington Post: “If Obama really wants to help promote education films, he could take a look at “Race to Nowhere,” a documentary that isn’t backed by a Gates grant but explores the strains of competing in a pressure- packed academic culture that is highly test-driven and pushes some students to the edge. His time would better be spent by talking to education experts who aren’t enamored with his policies and using his extraordinary intellect to come to understand how he is getting education so wrong.” (10/11/2010)
The New York Times: “Spurred by the medical and emotional problems of her own three children, Ms. Abeles embarked on a deeply personal inquiry into the insanely hectic lives of too many of our offspring. 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’ alarm and her awareness that blame, if it exists, is systemic and with little current incentive to change.” (9/9/2010)

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* I received no compensation for posting this content. I posted it because I think it’s important information.

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Updated with coverage of the oil spill!

Check it out:

http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/.element/apps/cvp/3.0/swf/cnn_416x234_embed.swf?context=embed&videoId=education/2010/05/27/sn.0528.cnn

The site is “a ten minute, commercial-free daily news program” geared to middle and high-school students.

If you’ve been looking for ways to get your teens interested in the news, I recommend bookmarking the CNN Student News site and showing it to your kids. It’s geared to them, so it’s a bit more hip, clean and concise than the main CNN site.

And, yeah, they’re on Facebook, too.

So here’s what I’ve been trying:

when my kids are screwing around, laughing and wasting time instead of doing their homework, I start to sign a song that I know they really don’t like (e.g., What Do You Want From Me?). It gets their attention much faster than saying expected phrases (like, “Focus, guys.” or “Get back to work now, please.”). Before long, they’re begging me to stop and agreeing to focus on their studies.

Believe me, when they become teens you have to get creative.

This fact becomes especially important if you have teen drivers.

April 30 is National No-Phone Zone Day, declared to raise awareness about the dangers of using a phone while driving.

I’m on board and signed the pledge. Will you?

http://static.oprah.com/npz/text_pledge_v1.swf

Well, I know we do.

It’s my son.

I can’t criticize him too much, though.  I was the same way.  Didn’t like my corn touching my mashed potatoes, despite the fact that my sister loved mixing them together. I’d sit next to her and think, “Ugh! How could you!?”

So last week, when my son suggested adding some swipes of Nutella to a few graham crackers, I thought, “Sure! Automatic buy-in (because he suggested it) and super economical.” When I was a little girl, I remember trips to Europe with my sister. We treasured that chocolate hazelnut taste because we knew we would never have it after we returned to the States because no stores sold it.  Now, however, it’s readily available (at least where we live).  What’s more…it’s not primarily made with HFCS anymore.

Since that day, he has asked for the same treat more than once, so I decided to share this simple idea with my readers.

If you have some picky eaters and are frequently seeking snack suggestions, I recommend giving these little treats a try.

Happy snacking!

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should I vaccinate my kids against H1N1?

I found this video and still ask the question:

Swine flu vaccine: Dangerous or safe?

So tell me, what do you think?

But before you answer, read this…

I believe that music benefits our kids, and I strongly encourage parents to support funding for school music programs.  They help our children in more ways than many people know or acknowledge. For one man’s knowledgeable perspective, watch this video:

Over the years I’ve wondered…

Do they learn from what we do? How can we be sure?

Wouldn’t it be nice to have a list of lessons, or a credo, if you will?

Then, one day last week, my son handed me a typewritten sheet with the heading, “Life and How to Live It.”  He explained that, after teaching the class George Washington’s 110 Rules of Civility, his teacher told the class that she wanted each of them to write a credo.

This is what he wrote:

Life and How to Live it

• Keep your head level. You’re no better than the next guy.
• Stick together. If a bunch of fish group together, it scares away the shark.
• Always remember what’s important in life. Your hair doesn’t matter as much as your SAT score.
• Be yourself. Just because someone else jumps off a bridge doesn’t mean you have to.
• Don’t depend on others to make you happy. If someone doesn’t like you anymore, it doesn’t have to be the end of the world.
• Keep a good balance of work and play. Ever seen The Shining?
• If you think of it as fun, it’ll go by a lot faster.
• Violence isn’t always the answer.
• Remember to give as much as you get and get as much as you give.
• Always know what path you’re on—and how what you’re doing will affect you long-term.
• Always know which way is up and which way is down.
• STUDY. What college you go to matters a lot more than Sunday Night Football.
• Sleep actually DOES matter. You aren’t any cooler if you stay up till midnight.
• Whenever you do anything that you think might not seem right, even the slightest bit, ask yourself: Would I like this if someone did this to me?
• And always, ALWAYS, be nicest to the ones you love.

After reading it, I smiled, thanked him and gave him a great big bear hug.  Every bullet point represented little lessons taught over the years.  Most came from those lectures where I thought I was talking too much and wondered whether his eyes were glazing over, whether he was thinking about football rather than listening to what I was telling him.  Others came from experiences and morals gleaned from stories about my family members. I recognized all of them.  Remembered every conversation, every moment we talked about these ideas.

Hooray.  Simply, hooray.

There it was — years of talking, teaching, leading, discussing, and guiding summed up by a page of bullet points.  He told me that he could have written more, but had to keep it to a page.

“That’s fine,” I thought. “More than good enough.”

Parenting provides no feedback or bonuses, no accolades or pay raises, so how do we know whether we’re doing a good job? We hope for moments like these and when we get them, we cherish them.

At the end of the day, it’s not about us.  The measure of our parenting, if it even exists, will be shown by our children’s character as they become young adults.  We really don’t know for certain whether they will be responsible citizens, contribute to society, or make a difference in the world.  But at least we can breath a little sigh of relief knowing that they hear our words and emulate our actions.

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I would add this —> always be kind and polite.

Our president will be making a speech today to convey the same message. If you would like to read his prepared remarks, just click this link.

You can watch it live by clicking the link below:

Here’s hoping you and your family have a terrific school year this year!