"Kids are expected not just to be good, they're expected to be good at everything," said Levine, a practicing clinical psychologist in Marin County and author of The Price of Privilege. "This notion that children are supposed to be good at absolutely everything they do is so unbelievably wrong, and not only wrong, but damaging."

The pressure has manifested itself in a dramatic rise in teen mental health problems, increased incidences of cheating and a pervading stress that characterizes the lives of many students, said Denise Pope, a lecturer in the School of Education and director of SOS.

In addition to causing psychological stress, the fixation on achievement is impeding the process of true education, said Maureen Powers, dean of students at Stanford. "If all you've done is filled your pail with a bunch of A's and a bunch of titles, and you haven't had a passion for genuine learning, you will have people who have very high grades but who are not up to the job," she said.