"Race to Nowhere" Documentary Showing at Villa Tonight

Katie, from Villa Academy in Laurelhurst, is inviting the community to a special screening of the documentary, Race to Nowhere, showing at the school tonight at 7pm. Tickets are $10 in advance or $15 at the door.

The documentary focuses on a "concerned mother turned filmmaker aims her camera at the high-stakes, high-pressure culture that has invaded our schools and our children’s lives," the website says.

Jennifer Roberts, who lives in Laurelhurst with her husband and four children, told us she was the parent that first brought "Race To Nowhere" to the attention of parents and faculty at Villa Academy.

She says "the documentary specifically deals with the challenges that we as parents, teachers and students face in this fast-paced world of overachieving that we live in today. We all want what is best for our children, but unfortunately that too often leads to over-programming and lack of balance within a family. The increase of child-onset depression and other stress-induced illnesses have continued to climb, especially in communities like our own. The Laurelhurst community is blessed and cursed with the ability to make many extra curricular activities available to our children, all while wanting them to continue to 'do their best' academically.


Jennifer said that the the movie was originally brought to her attention by a former high school peer where she grew up in Palo Alto, California.

She told us that the two public high schools there "have dealt with suicides, due to stress, on and off throughout the years (even back in the 80's and early 90's) but tragically those incidences jumped to epidemic numbers about a year and a half ago. My high school alone lost 4 kids that year, in separate instances, when they each chose to take their life by throwing themselves in front of a moving commuter train. They all chose death over continuing on what they considered to be a Race To Nowhere."

She goes on to day in her email "I unfortunately have lost several friends throughout the years on this 'race' and am determined to educate as many people in our community as possible, so that we can prevent this sort of tragedy from occurring here."

You can find more information on the documentary here.

Tickets can be purchased here.