Are our kids losing their creativity?

“Preschool children, on average, ask their parents about 100 questions a day. Why, why, why—sometimes parents just wish it’d stop. Tragically, it does stop. By middle school they’ve pretty much stopped asking.”

The above is a quote from a recent Newsweek story, The Creativity Crisis, which highlights the sharp decline in creativity seen in America’s children. Between the time spent devouring video games and television and the pressure on our schools to meet standards, the article opines, America’s children are lucky to master reading, writing and arithmetic. Even China, known for its strict learn and repeat standards, has recognized the need to foster imagination and invention to make upcoming generations marketable in the workforce.

Personally, the projects and papers I remember most were the ones that required us to step outside the cycle of memorization and regurgitation. I can’t tell you offhand who was president in 1896, but I can tell you the results of my sixth grade science fair project. I also saw in my younger brother the failure of the school system to nurture those with more creative brains. My brother was expelled from high school after shutting down the school district’s entire computer system. He was bored out of mind, close to failing out, but was smart enough to manipulate a protected computer network. (Do I sound like too much of a proud sister?)

Today’s employers want innovators and go-getters, but those entering adulthood have rarely been asked to step into those roles. Budget cuts have forced schools to enlarge class sizes, meaning students will receive even less personalized attention. On a positive note, I see many school districts are now offering specialized academies, such as nursing, law and theater, to nurture those students who want to pursue a special interest. As always, though, parents can “make up the difference” and encourage free thinking and creativity (with some boundaries, of course) at home.