‘Nursery University” might give significant pause to couples eager to start a family.
The documentary, out on DVD July 7, showcases the efforts a group of New York City parents made to get their toddlers in the best pre-school programs the Big Apple has to offer.
Think the battle to get Jim or Jane into Harvard or Yale is rough? Then you’ve never tried to beat out hundreds of other yuppie parents striving to start their children on the right academic foot.
Even if said foot involves nothing more than creative play and the most basic of educational instruction.
“University” follows five Manhattan couples who will do nearly anything to plunk their little darlings in the most exclusive pre-pre-prep schools available. Sticker shock is no object. One of the preschools featured here costs a whopping $20,000 a year.
Those fat Crayola crayons and Elmer’s Glue aren’t cheap.
Getting a child into these overbooked programs requires constant diligence. Gently pleading phone calls come first. Then, rose-colored letters proclaiming the greatness of one’s child. Slipping past each school’s assessment program, which appears arbitrary and leans toward students of color, marks the following phase.
A parent could always hire a consultant to gain that extra edge, but that will cost him or her $4,000 – with little guarantee of success.
The film doesn’t take an accusatory tone about the parents behavior, opting to trust the viewer to make up their own minds. No severe close-ups when one of the parent’s eyes well up after learning a particular school program doesn’t have room for their perfect little angels.
Instead, it presents the material with a straight face, and audiences can either laugh, cry or do a bit of both at what transpires.
Some of the parents understand how ridiculous the whole process really is, but they push ahead all the same. Eventually, the need to compete overwhelms any sense of shame.
If only “Nursery University” dug deeper into the lives of the families in focus. What drives them beyond an understandable zest to prepare their children for the real world?
Perhaps the mild stance was necessary to secure their participation in the project.
The kids themselves aren’t to blame. The youngsters here are an adorable lot, eager to please and smart as that proverbial whip.
The material could also benefit from scholarly context. Is there evidence that high-achieving children began their academic life in top-flight nursery school programs? Have researchers studied the long-term affect of those who enter these prestigious schools?
“Nursery University” could be seen as another example of “Only in New York” behavior. But it also serves as a chilling reminder of the lengths a parent will take to give their child every possible advantage.
Related posts:
on 
on 
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
It really is amazing to what extend parents will go to battle it out for their kids. I really don’t understand their motivation for getting their child in the best of the best schools. I mean it’s not like other nurseries, school and universities don’t have quality education. What’s in a name anyways? But there are some people who I guess are concerned for their image, status and reputation. Reasons being for the battle of the best.