By Rebecca Wallace-Segall -- Ben, 16, heads to my creative writing lab to work on his heartfelt memoir about his parents' bitter divorce. Alison, 15, rushes from her elite private school in the Bronx to work on her short screenplay... Why, one might wonder, do these kids need an extracurricular creative writing coach? The answer is simple, though twisted: Their schools -- while touting well-known athletic teams -- are offshoots of the "progressive education" movement and uphold a categorical belief that "thought competition" is treacherous.