A la Barack Obama, I actually think Ezra is wrong, and it's a great idea to hand kids a symbolic college application at their eighth grade graduation. Ezra's stepsister will likely get plenty of pushing from home to plan for higher ed in the upcoming years. But for those who aren't so lucky, a reminder of bigger, greater goals is in order. Of course, in pressure cooker, relatively homogeneous and affluent suburbs, it's more of a stunt than a real statement, so I can understand Ezra's disgust. But I remember the silliness surrounding my own middle school commencement ceremony -- the girls who got their hair professionally done, the two mean popular kids who were chosen to give speeches -- and I sigh a little.
--Dana Goldstein
