Lafayette will hold a district-wide screening of the documentary film, Race to Nowhere, in the theater. The film is to highlight the major struggles of today’s high school students in the achievement-minded culture of public schools.

Paige Hereford, a counselor of Lafayette’s Gifted Program, says that the documentary reveals the stress and pressure that students are under due to large amounts of homework.

“The whole point of the story is that it is a race to nowhere,” Senior Principal Dr. Tim Jones said, “you’re putting all this pressure on yourself when you’re young and you need to enjoy yourself.”

Dr. Jones said that Race to Nowhere came to be when the daughter of the director committed suicide because of heavy competition and taking many high-stakes tests.

“She felt that if she didn’t do well, she’d fail. So she committed suicide,” Dr. Jones said.

Hereford also believes that students, parents and teachers should see it because of the message it sends to students.

“It gives kids a sense of finding balance between taking every single hard class and picking a passion so that they’re not burned out before college,” Hereford said.

The screening takes place on March 1 in the Lafayette Theater at 7 p.m.