Creativity and Our Modern School Sytem.

Do you remember a long time ago back when you were in kindergarten and early elementary school? Probably not very clearly but you probably remember doing a lot of drawing and imaginary play and things like that. Ever notice how young children are encouraged to use their creativity and imagination? They are encouraged to explore the world around them and express it in a creative manner. But, there comes a time in a person’s school career where all this creative wonder stops. Once a child hits mid-elementary, this wonderful bliss abruptly stops. They are forced to enter and conform to an academic system with little to no room for individual creativity. It's a sad reality. Our school system sucks the creativity out of children.

Pablo Picasso once stated that "every child is born an artist, the problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up." How does one retain there childhood imagination? With the school system having such a focus on maths and sciences and academics, there is very little room left for creativity and individualism. School courses are pretty much standardized and everybody is forced to learn the same material, regardless of whether they have an interest or not. Any attempt at being creative or expressing one's own perspective, outside of say essay writing is scorned upon. Kids are punished for leaving innocent little doodles on their work or for expressing their distest at the material being covered. School discourages free-thinking. The lowest priority is placed on programs which encourage creativity, like art, music and drama programs.

Why is that? Not everybody learns by being taught something directly. Many of the most intelligent people out there learn by expressing themselves through art and doing things their own way. Why is society so restrictive of individuals? Why is it that we are only allowed to be creative when we are young? Society it seems is just one big melting pot, trying to make us all conform to some ridiculous standard.

Ok think I'm gonna end it here cos this could go so deep into philosophizing that I'll probably lose you all :P

Anyways, thought de jour...be yourself and be a creative individual. Don't let school or any social stigma out there stop you. There's nothing wrong with using your imagination