Last October, more than 300 people crammed into the town hall for a screening of “Beyond<br />Measure,” a sequel to Vicki Abeles’s documentary on youth angst, “Race to Nowhere.”<br />“We want to be a model,” said Jessie Steigerwald, a longtime school board member.<br />You think we should be satisfied because at least he didn’t get a D?” And: “But my<br />heart still whispers: Am I not just letting my child lose at the starting line?”<br />One parent, Melanie Lin, found herself, too, in a heated conversation on WeChat after early-admissions decisions arrived last school year.<br />In a 2015 national health survey, 95 percent of Lexington High School students reported being heavily stressed over their classes<br />and 15 percent said they had considered killing themselves in the last year.<br />One wrote: “My mom.” Another: “Trip to Israel!” A girl with green hair: “Chicken curry.”<br />One morning in February, students in “Positive Psychology: The Pursuit of Happiness,” a popular elective, were following up on a discussion about the psychologist Barbara Fredrickson’s “broaden and build” theory, which posits<br />that negative emotions like anxiety and fear prompt survival-oriented behaviors, while positive emotions expand awareness, spurring new ideas, creativity and eventually building skills.<br />But, Ms. Tang said, “I think a lot of parents felt like: ‘What do I do with that information?’”<br />This year, organizers will delve deeper into the differences between the Chinese<br />and American systems, and are planning to add another new element: a panel discussion on combating stress.
