An editorial in The New York Times says the Dangerous Book for Boys and its follow-up, The Daring Book for Girls are about “ineptitude.” The author writes, “They seem to perfectly capture a fear … that a generation of preoccupied parents has been raising a generation of children full of sophisticated knowledge that is useless when the power goes out or the batteries die.” (For a more favorable review, see ParentHacks.)
This is certainly not the first accusation of today’s children lacking creativity and self-reliance. I’m not sure I agree with this widely-held premise, but it does make interesting blog fodder.
Let’s first check out this video of Sir Ken Robinson on Do Schools Kill Creativity? Here is one memorable quote from his presentation:
“Our education system has mined our minds in the way we’ve strip-mined the Earth for a particular commodity.”
When this video made the rounds among my friends, some commented that television and screen time were a major cause of squashed creativity, it wasn’t all the fault of the public school system. I disagree that TV and video games are necessarily bad for our kids and crush their creativity. Long before the printed word, bards told stories. Then came books, then television, then video games. I don’t see how this progression has inhibited creativity. If anything, it’s given us more to be creative with.
There are a couple good articles on the benefits of screen time here and here. I know people can also find research against the use of video games. I’m just pointing out that there are two sides to the story. Anecdotally, I’ve seen my son play a video game or watch a TV show, then go on to use his reading and researching skills to learn a TON more about a topic, as well as his imagination skills to “play” (and expand upon) scenarios from games and shows.
So is it the school system that’s crushing our kids’ creative spirit? Or screen time? How about the so-called helicopter parenting?
An article in the Wall Street Journal by Charles Skyes called “Adult Supervision” says that there is an “epidemic of overprotectiveness.” He cites the plethora of schools that have banned tag, swings, teeter-totters, crawl tubes, sandboxes – in fact any and all bodily contact – “in order to protect children from spontaneous outbreaks of creativity.” We blame screen time for the childhood obesity problem, but perhaps kids would play less video games if they were allowed to play tag.
My take on this topic is that the world today is a more dangerous place. We no longer live in small communities where all the kids play in the street. Life is moving at a faster pace and childhood is moving right along with it. Are some of the oldie-but-goody playtimes lost? Sure, but new ones have taken their place and that’s not a bad thing. I think schools do tend to stifle creativity because they have to answer to so many parents, administrators and tests. And I think overprotectiveness is a big problem. One I am guilty of myself.
But I still have faith in our children’s creativity. I’ve seen the spark in so many kids I know. Let’s pay attention to it and nurture it.
Note: Skyes is the author of Dumbing Down Our Kids. There’s a list he complied of things he did not learn in school, and he claims that schools have set kids up for failure in the real world. I think it’s a good, quick read for parents and children together.
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
I really enjoyed reading what you had to say and listening to the video on stifling creativity. One of the many reasons I homeschool is because I know my children would wilt if they had to sit in a classroom.
Thank you.
There are so many impediments to creativity in today’s society! Schools, with their emphasis on standardized tests and curricula (one “right” answer to every question!) are a major culprit. As far as television and video games are concerned, I do think the progression from stories and books to television and videos (and computers) has impacted creativity. After all, with so many ready-made images available, children have no need to create their own! How many kids lie around on their backs outdoor, looking for creatures in the clouds these days? Finally, I just have to add that, although I certainly understand the tendency toward overprotectiveness, the statistics show that the world is NOT a more dangerous place for kids these days. In fact, by 2002, violent crimes against young people had fallen well below 1975 levels!
You mentioned that your son goes off and learns more about a subject after playing a video game or watching tv…my 6 year old son does the same. I definitely do not believe his creativity is being stifled by doing these things. I think, overall, as our children get older (and if they are in school) that is a big part of the problem. We ended up sending our son to public kindergarten instead of homeschooling but we are noticing what a waste of time it is learning wise. Yes, he has fun and gets to interact with kids (which he wants more of) but there is no creativity in schools beyond a certain grade. After that it’s all about testing.
With my youngest son I have found that screen time has not only sparked his creativity, it caused him to want to improve his grammar and spelling as he wanted his post on forums to be respected and taken seriously.
I love Phat Mommy’s fall look.
I think that the more stimuli a child is exposed to (books, tv, games, music, poetry, field trips and activities, and etc…) the more creative they are able to be.
I think it’s a matter of balance, and making sure our children are exposed to many different types of experiences.
Dana, has a good point. I don’t think any of us would be OK with our children playing computer games 24/7 to the exclusion of everything else. My youngest son often chooses to read books instead of spending time on the computer (IF I have brought new books home), and there are family activities that he chooses to participate in instead of spending time on-line.
come on i don’t mean anything but at least it’ll make ma child creative , im talking about ma self , i grow up with online games and computer games , where it ended with me a programmer in the end , but i got to this level with a very good supervision from ma parents