Although MSJ is renowned for its excellent yet tear-inducing academics and stress, most of us had  surprisingly carefree childhoods. Handball at recess, eating truckloads of candy, and avoiding cooties were the only things on our minds. As we begin to encounter SATs, APs, and college applications, it’s slightly discomforting to find our five-year-old counterparts being sucked into the higher-education preparation hype with us.

The Otis-Lennon School Ability Test (OLSAT) is used by school administrators to weed out “average” kindergartners. As a result, children adopt test-taking mentalities earlier by practicing proper bubbling techniques and identifying parallelograms when they don’t have the foggiest idea what “identify” and “parallelogram” mean.

To keep up with the pace of examinations, concerned parents are shelling out hundreds for test preparation. Their intentions are to give their child an edge on the OLSAT and the title of “gifted and talented kindergartener”. Ironically, a significant number of parents found that their kindergarteners failed to score proficiently even after undergoing the KTSS (Kindergarten Test Study System), a popular OLSAT study program. Honestly, if kindergarteners can’t comprehend the fourth-grade level vocabulary of test questions or would rather play Pokémon than take tests, no prep program will help. Parents are squandering their hard-earned incomes that could have gone towards a college fund. The KTSS is just another money-making scheme.

Sure, parents know best for their kids, but they overestimate their judgment in enrolling their children in KTSS. Some MSJ parents dole out thousands for SAT prep classes, but we may need the extra boost at a stage in which test scores are necessary for college admissions. Kindergarteners, on the other hand, still have their entire childhoods. A single test should not determine their prospects and abilities twelve years into their life.

When I glance at my little brother, now at the perfect age for OLSATs, I can’t imagine his hand clutching a testing No. 2 pencil instead of a Lego piece. He shouldn’t have to worry about important standardized assessments determining his future before he begins to worry about his first crush. If such a test-based attitude is here to stay, schools will no longer be fostering my brother’s love of learning and creativity, but encouraging him to close his mind and blindly learn to conform to examinations. 

Now that is one future nobody needs to look forward to.