The Endless Battle Between School Work and Play for Children

Children are being overworked in school and over-scheduled after school at a young age, and in turn their creativity is slowly being killed. This is not only affecting their joy in childhood, but it is also affecting their ability to succeed in the workforce when they mature. The World Economic Forum cited that by the year 2020, creativity will be the second most sought after skill in the workforce. They further cited research that shows kids have become dramatically less creative since 1990.^[1]

Keeping Children Busy Makes No Room for Creativity

Parents who are pushing their kids toward success are unfortunately harming their kid’s creativity. It happens when there isn’t enough time in the day to allow kids to simply play. Many adults are continually over scheduling children and keeping the lives of these kids so structured that free play is an afterthought. But the need for play to ignite creativity in children is real. Children need time to play freely and this allows their creativity to flourish.

Imaginative play becomes scarce when children aren’t given the opportunity and are instead in the classroom all day long beginning at toddler ages. The consequence of this loss of creativity is a society of educated people who lack creativity.

A study by Live Science discussed research on this subject and stated,^[2]

Since 1990, children have become less able to produce unique and unusual ideas. They are also less humorous, less imaginative and less able to elaborate on ideas.

Losing creativity in childhood is attuned to losing part of childhood imagination and the fun that goes along with pretend and creative play. Children lose their ability to be unique individuals when they lose their ability to be creative. When children lose their ability to become creative, they are losing part of their childhood.

Standardized Answers Are Tombs for Imagination

Also contributing to a decrease in childhood creativity is, the way mainstream education forces kids to suppress their creativity because what is rewarded is standardized test scores. This is not all schools, but this is the current trend in our mainstream education systems. The World Economic Forum discusses the problem of creativity being suppressed in the classroom and stated the following,

Worryingly, these skills are often not featured prominently in children’s school day where the norm still is the chalk-and-talk teaching approach that has prevailed for centuries.

Are we merely teaching our kids to be good test takers or are we encouraging their own individual creative thought and ingenuity? Unfortunately, standardized tests are utilized in mainstream educational settings and they do not foster creative thought. These kinds of tests teach our kids that they need be reservoirs of information that has been taught to them in the classroom. They learn early in life that they need to be good test takers in order to be successful in school.

Survival in education and being promoted to the next grade is based on their ability to perform on a test. This may not sound that harmful, but when you think about how we are shaping our children’s expectations for the real world it is not realistic or beneficial. True genius is found in the creative individual. These are the people who continue to use their creativity into adulthood to invent products and solutions for the world.

Let Kids Be Bored and a Little Rebellious

Children need down time. When they say “I’m bored”, it is time for the parent to say “great, find something to do”.

Allow for children to think creatively and find ways to entertain themselves. It is a shame that some children are growing up without the ability to learn to entertain themselves. Is a TV, computer, or structured activity always necessary to keep your child entertained? Of course not, they can be by themselves and learn to overcome boredom. Psychology Today states the following about children and boredom,^[3]

Children who experience a lack of programmed activity are given an opportunity to demonstrate creativity, problem solving, and to develop motivational skills that may help them later in life.

Children will also learn what they like it in life when they are provided the opportunity for boredom and to be free to do the things (anything) they can think of. When electronics are taken out of the equation and your child is left to decide what they would like to do on their own, they discover themselves. It gives them the opportunity to reflect on what they like and dislike. They will reflect on what they want to do with their spare time and how they would like to spend that time. Most kids are not going to decide to clean their room or complete a list of chores. They are going to seek something that gives them enjoyment, pleasure, or a sense of accomplishment. Most of these activities will involve creative play, as the child has to be the initiator of the activity and how it is conducted.

In my other article The Most Difficult Lesson for Parents: Let Children Play, I will talk more about what parents can do to just let their kids play and let them get more creative.

Featured photo credit: Pixabay via pixabay.com