My 2 cents... 1 - It is due to academic pressure. You can't opt out of academics like you can if you're not good as sports or music. The parents have High IQ

My 2 cents... 1 - It is due to academic pressure. You can't opt out of academics like you can if you're not good as sports or music. The parents have High IQ jobs, so this is what people aspire for. 2 - It is a shame. 3 - Guards at the train stations, while necessary, attack the symptom. 4 - I think a lot can be done by encouraging choice in high schools. The Palo Alto elementary schools have a lot of choice. Some are academic, some are more progressive play based, some are language immersion... I would like to see the Palo Alto schools offer such choices. Why not have schools or programs for the visual artists? Or musicians? Or people very into computers? Or other languages? Encouraging kids to find excellence in areas other than AP courses will go a long way.