CBS News has a report about recent debates over whether kindergartners (five year old children) should be forced to meet minimum standardized achievement scores mandated by the federal “No Child Left Behind” program:

Even writing her name, something [kindergarten] Caitlyn knows how to do, exhausted her to the point of tears. It was the same in San Diego, where for several years the superintendent of schools raised standards in kindergarten to try to increase test scores. “Principals and teachers interpreted that as no art, no music, no puzzles,” explains kindergarten teacher Trish Candia.

That’s right, gone are the good old days of coloring and Play-Doh. Now it’s work, work, work and some are calling it “the kindergrind.” Candia says she felt the kids were under pressure. “I was a teacher and I wanted every kid in my class to do the very best,” she says. “But they also need to have a life.”

Nationwide the debate rages on whether kindergarten has become the new first grade -- too much emphasis on learning to read and write. This year fed up teachers confronted the San Diego school board, asking them to dial back the curriculum.

“You can continue to direct teachers to teach in an atmosphere of stress and harassment… or you can allow teachers to teach children to love to read using multiple strategies,” Candia says. When research showed that some under-performing kindergartners could catch up by third grade, the school board took a bold move and lowered their expectations.

As a sociologist, I am keenly aware of instances in which, depending on their racial/ethnic and/or socioeconomic status, some children tend to fall behind their peers early on in their elementary school years and how this can have potentially devastating effects on their educational achievement later in life.

On the other hand, as a parent of a six year old first-grader, I know firsthand that you cannot force a child to learn when s/he is feeling pressured or under stress. As a parent, I also think it is inhuman to place those kinds of expectations on a young child who is still learning how to interact with his/her social environment. Studies also show that if children see learning and school as a traumatic experience, that will also have devastating effects on their educational attainment later in life.

Unfortunately, it looks like another example of a politically-motivated program mandated by the federal government is having dire unintended consequences. Of course we as a society should strive to make sure all children have the best educational opportunities possible. But let’s make sure it’s within a supportive environment that fosters a joy and love of learning, not a pressure-packed one that stresses out five year old children to the point of tears.