Lucy Films.

How the School System Stole Creativity

“During our insane worship to win the race, during our mad love to become number one, we forget that our schools are raising children that are racing to nowhere.” -Line Dalile,           Huffington Post

A class in creativity could help benefit our society, and some problems that our modern world faces. Creativity class would help to preserve those gifted with visionary minds, as well as provoke others that may not be as creative. With the many problems with our environment, such as climate change, it would be extremely useful to have more creative individuals in our society to help. Sometimes, our creativity is stifled within the education system, encouraging us to all be the same, and to think the same way. Many adults believe that stifling children’s fantasies and imagination will help them to become “normal”, functioning members of society. With this, many children turn into mindless robots, only able to function with the useless information they have been given in school. We are pressured into the mundane life of adulthood with many creativity-suppressing principals that are supposed to prepare us for the workplace. In school, these principles consist of: sitting quietly, raising your hand when you want to talk, not doodling on your work, only wearing what the school wants you to wear, and only saying what the school system wants you to say.

    Although this isn’t the case for most students, some still face the mind-numbing, creativity-stifling machine of today’s school system. Creativity class will help this by giving those who are tired of their thoughts being directed by teachers and administrators an opportunity to allow their minds to wander. It is important to understand that creativity class should not be surface level, such as visual or performing arts, but rather a cultivation of ideas and activities. What some fail to see is that creativity is not just art, and that is why we need a class dedicated to purely exercising the imagination. Many people believe having art classes is enough, but now, more often than not, many teachers grade art on a scale of how “good” it is. It is almost impossible to grade how “good” art is when art is entirely up to one’s interpretation. A lot of times, children are discouraged by the belittlement of their art because it is not “good” enough. Being a child with a vastly vivid imagination had its drawbacks. When I was younger, I used to think outside the box, much of my art and ideas going so far out that they had to be shut down by many of my teachers. For example, I would often make up crazy ideas for iPad desks and real life Pokemon, including blueprints for each. I was often found drawing outside the lines of one of my favorite coloring books, only later to have been enlightened that this was against the insane, but widely known rule of not coloring outside the lines. This belittlement of children’s fantasies and imagination is a huge issue that many, including myself, have faced and will be helped with the addition of a creativity class.

Many believe that creativity is important and crucial for living in the modern era, but some are unsure of how to implement programs into school, and how to change the basis of the school system in order to work with new creativity policies. Unfortunately, the competitive style of modern schooling does not allow much room for alternative routes, meaning if you do not perform well in high school to reach college, you are sure never to get a decent job and live a comfortable life. Although college allows many students a bright future, many students also benefit from careers not requiring a college degree. A multitude of the world’s most creative people including bestselling authors, musicians, and inventors either did not benefit from college, or did not go at all. Multitudes of authors–considered forward- minded thinkers of their time–Ray Bradbury, Maya Angelou, Truman Capote, Mark Twain, Charles Dickens, and William Faulkner either did not go to college, or dropped out. This is excruciatingly ironic considering that we still study these authors and read their books, but we are never actually encouraged to follow the same path. Many inventive geniuses preferred to use their creative minds to improve society, rather than get a college degree. Business Insider journalist, Steven Benna, quotes that “In addition to tech icon Bill Gates and media mogul Oprah Winfrey, several notable people dropped out of college. While they may be outliers, they show you don't need a degree to make it in business,” referring to how although these considerably creative geniuses are outliers, they are proof that the school system does not allow for much creative freedom. If somehow the basis of all school systems were altered for a more inclusive education, many students would be inspired to continue school, and improve their imaginative abilities.

Creativity is crucial for the benefit of the future of our world. With the decline of our environment, and the demand for new innovations, a world with few creative minds is counterproductive. As mentioned in the prompt “All around is are matters of national and international importance that are crying out for creative solutions.” The world around us will slowly decline if we cannot come up with these creative solutions. With new systems put in place by school systems, we won’t be getting too far creativity wise. With this huge need for creative minds, and the steady push against from the school systems, we are definitely running ourselves into the dirt.