Not your imagination: Kids today really are less creative, study says

[sinkingfeeling]

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/44122383/ns/today-parenting/

But researchers say they are finding exactly that. In a 2010 study of about 300,000 creativity tests going back to the 1970s, Kyung Hee Kim, a creativity researcher at the College of William and Mary, found creativity has decreased among American children in recent years. 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, Kim said.

The current focus on testing in schools, and the idea that there is only one right answer to a question, may be hampering development of creativity among kids, Beghetto said. "There's not much room for unexpected, novel, divergent thought," he said.

"I believe No Child Left Behind … really hurt creativity," Kim said. "If we just focus on just No Child Left Behind — testing, testing, testing — then how can creative students survive?" Kim said. Other culprits may be the rise in TV watching, a passive activity that doesn't require interactions with others, Kim said.

[ananda]

1. Don't forget widespread drugging of kids.

nt

[monmouth]

20. Kids are parked in front of the babysitter tv instead of out playing and

creating their own games. Lots of imagination could be creative out on the playground..

[AsahinaKimi]

59. Comic Books used to be an inspiration

and there are still many showing up at places like the Comic Con, but maybe where there are that many talented artists, people tend to feel, there is nothing more for anyone to contribute.


Dōjinshi


I know for a fact in Japan, they have conventions for Dōjinshi, those who are fans of Anime and Manga, and create their own books, which they sell. Most of the Dōjinshi manga is based off characters from the Commercial Manga, characters already established in professional circles.


It would be like Fans of Superman, or the Dark Knight Creating their own stories and drawings. Over here it would be against the law! The characters are copy righted. Marvel or DC could sue any one who created a comic book using their property.


Not so in Japan..The books are in small numbers and little profit is made from them. The idea of the Dōjinshi conventions is to inspire creativity. Most of the times, those Dōjinshi artists will never see the offices of a Commercial venture, although sometimes one or two are lucky to be picked up by
the Manga companies and paid as professional artists, after training.


Comic Books have always been treated as something juvenile, despite the growth of many underground comic books that jumped up in the 1960s and 1970s. I know many adults who love Manga and Anime because many of the stories are geared for adults and kids.


Comic books have had a bad reputation in the past in America. Still I wonder how many young adults still are inspired by this kind of creativity?

[Gidney N Cloyd]

66. Dōjinshi reminds me of Star Trek fan fiction and fan films.

[formernaderite]

63. exactly...

it's an absolute tragedy. I'm older and we didn't get a television till I was 8, but none of the kids in my family watched it. We were too busy wrecking the yard. My own kids showed no interest in it either.. but we had moved out to a rural property by then. No wonder so many kids have such short attention spans. Seriously folks, there's no reason to ever introduce television or videos to kids under eight. What they don't know, they can't miss.

[jmowreader]

50. Did you see Stephan Pastis' anti-kid-drugging cartoon?

It's in his collection Lions and Tigers and Crocs Oh My! and shows four panels:

Panel 1: Wolfgang Mozart's teacher telling Mozart's dad about ADHD drugs.
Panel 2: Miles Davis' teacher telling Miles' dad about ADHD drugs.
Panel 3: Paul McCartney's teacher telling Paul's dad about ADHD drugs.
Panel 4: Pig and Rat standing in front of a record store bin filled with nothing but Pat Boone records.

[AverageJoe90]

70. What about all those dysfunctional/broken/abusive families still out there?

That kind of thing has often been BADLY overlooked when issues like this are talked about. It has to stop, or this problem will NEVER be fully understood. Ever!

[villager]

2. The elites don't want kids to be "creative." They want people who will shut up and follow orders

Societies producing too many "creative" people are harder to control

[The2ndWheel]

11. Societies that produce people require orders be followed

Much more likely than not under threat of penalty for non-compliance, or else that society isn't going to function for very long. I don't think it's just the elites that want that. You really think the elites give a shit either way whether the products of society are creative or not? What would "creative" products exactly do that would endanger the power of elites? How would those products be harder for the elites to control?

[villager]

28. Glad you're on the side of "orders being followed!"

You will fit right in to the New World Order, O faithful and unquestioning citizen!

:thumbsup:

[Riftaxe]

37. Ahh so an ordered society is silly and you rebel and refuse

to abide by society's rules. Interesting, I wonder if there is a rash of rape, murder and thefts in your neighborhood or perhaps you complying without realizing it...

[villager]

51. Reflexively taking orders is silly. As is refusing to ask the question "who makes society's rules?"

But yes, you're free to feel that questioning the motives of billionaires and their puppets in Congress is akin to rape and murder.

that, in fact, is exactly where they want you: Policing yourself. Well done.

[seabeyond]

54. i have never been a rule follower. but, i have always been one to weigh the risk and repercussion

my husband is a rule follower.

my kids gets a view of both perspectives. the plus and minus of each. they clearly can see my family that does not follow rules, and my husbands family that does. and how well it has worked for both. we often talk about it. what we like about my family, and what it costs us. what we dont like about hubbys family, yet the advantages.

another tidbit the kids have to understand. though i break the rules, i have an incredibly lucky streak that i dont often get punished for it, as i should or most people would. the kids have to factor this in, too.

[JoeyT]

55. Creativity is much more than just being able to paint a pretty picture.

Writing persuasive and dramatic speeches that automatically grab the listener by their heart and propel them towards a goal most people wouldn't even think could ever be realized requires a huge amount of creativity. Dreaming and dreaming big is creativity too.

Martin Luther King was a creative person and he caused the great rule makers no end of trouble.

[ixion]

3. schools started to slide under Ray-Gun

and have continued downward ever since, apparently by design.

[The Wizard]

4. information overload

is stifling creativity

[seabeyond]

6. +1. nt

[GoCubsGo]

10. So is the elimination of music and art classes in schools

And, all those computer games, etc., don't help, either. It appears most kids don't just "go out and play" any more. I hardly ever see the kids in my neighborhood at all, let alone out playing in their yards. No inventing games with the stuff you find in the yard...

[chrisa]

62. No way! In fact, lots of information should be stimulating creativity.

We have more information than ever before. We should be at our most creative right now. Yet, we aren't. Why is that?

I can't claim to have the answer. I do in part, however, blame the rigid teaching styles of our schools that prepare kids for standardized tests, not promoting creativity and intellect.

[abq e streeter]

5. From George Carlin

"I’ll tell you what they don’t want. They don’t want a population of citizens capable of critical thinking. They don’t want well-informed, well-educated people capable of critical thinking... That’s against their interests. That’s right. They don’t want people who are smart enough to sit around a kitchen table and think about how badly they’re getting fucked by a system that threw them overboard 30 fuckin’ years ago. They don’t want that.
...
You know what they want? They want obedient workers. Obedient workers, people who are just smart enough to run the machines and do the paperwork. And just dumb enough to passively accept all these increasingly shittier jobs with the lower pay, the longer hours, the reduced benefits, the end of overtime and vanishing pension that disappears the minute you go to collect it. "



All going nicely according to plan, isn't it?

[seabeyond]

7. i use to agree. then i had kids. wow. reality... schools need to pass on information for kids to

learn

parents need to teach children critical thinking and exploring views. and teaching kids that sometimes they need to shut up in class adn let the teacher teach. adn sometimes the teachers are open to conversation and discussion.

has worked for my kids and they are outside the box thinkers

parents can have SOME responsibility for the development of their kids. they have the most influece. the most power to allow the children to be critical thinkers.

[abq e streeter]

16. I work with middle and high school kids. I think Carlin was referring to the corporate

and political powers that be having this as their goal, and doing what they could to force the education system toward this goal, as opposed to the schools and the teachers themselves endorsing this . I absolutely agree (from first hand experience) about the kids "shutting up" and letting the teacher teach, and also your point about learning these things at home. I was just agreeing with Carlin that in their ideal world (which they are implementing to a dangerous degree , which I suspect that you're very aware of) this would be pretty much the total sum of education in this country and the world. Most of the teachers I know try desperately to engage the kids in critical, analytic thinking etc. Cultural forces seem to be making that more and more of a struggle, and NCLB and (Arne) "Duncanism" aren't exactly helping, and are infact part of the problem.

[seabeyond]

25. Most of the teachers I know try desperately to engage the kids in critical, analytic thinking etc

i have absolutely found this to be true. have even had oldest say, how so often he will be the one to discuss, because other kids won't when a teacher tries to encourage it.

i agree with your whole post.

thanks.

[panzerfaust]

56. Sadly, most of the teachers I suffered under in public school

... in two states, multiple schools, and for 12 eternal years did all that they could do stamp out any sign of creativity, interest or independent thought.

I graduated from HS with a 1.2 GPA. Only that high as I got, with one exception, all "A's" my senior year.

Oddly, I thrived in college (getting in only as my SATs were so high) where the environment was free of "professional educators" and the courses were simply taught by people who actually worked in the fields being studied - not one of whom, I am certain, ever designed a "lesson plan."

In my experience, NOTHING is more threatening to a "teacher" than an intelligent student. NCLB simply allows such apparatchiks even more power to substitute rigid teaching of Truth for the more important goal of encouraging learning.

Now I am a medical doctor and a professor myself.

I encourage my young colleagues to question our current, transitory, state of knowledge - even though this sometimes makes me look like an idiot when they demonstrate that something I have presented is completely wrong and superannuated.

No "teacher" will ever allow him or herself to be made to look a fool - but those of us who value the brightness and hope of the new generations must accept that we will at times be found wrong. We must accept occasionally looking like ignorant idiots in order that we avoid graduating ignorant idiots.

I try to remember that L'avenir du monde est assis devant moi dans la classe aujourd'hui.

If you want to know what my (poor) French translates too - go look it up: A response I try to encourage in my students when they are faced with something unfamiliar.

[Glassunion]

64. Every single day parents should do the following...

Take their child(ren), remove them from the TV, Internet, cell phones, etc... Put them in a comfy chair by a window, and allow them 30 minutes of uninterrupted daydreaming.

All of the world's greatest people were daydreamers.

[tridim]

8. It's from the loss of music and art.

Both of which wire developing brains for creativity.

Replace either with an Xbox and it's all over.

[TBF]

13. I agree -

my daughter is imaginative by nature - lots of writing, art, and music ability on both sides of the family. I've encouraged her with extra art and music classes (out of my own household budget). They do still write in the schools here in TX (she's come home with journals the past few years), but art was cut completely in our suburban area. They do still have music but who knows for how long ...

The focus on testing has resulted in Texas having very low-rated schools when compared to other states - no surprise there.

[RC]

17. They still have music, because they need bands for the football games.

[TBF]

18. As sad as that is I bet you're right -

football is everything in Texas.

[seabeyond]

33. orchestra or choir and 8th grade band. three options in middle school. two years

required. elementary school there is art and music EVERY year.

we still have our music and art in texas

[elleng]

9. TV complicit, imo, followed by computers/internet, etc.

Allow others to be 'creative,' and the majority just to observe.

Music videos? Remember when our imaginations provided images of songs?

[DCKit]

12. My nephews (14 and 16) are total dullards.

Can't talk to them about anything, they're not interested in anything.

Future Republicans, for sure.

[roamer65]

46. Delete.

[Agony]

14. fewer and fewer parents read to their kids

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/2975447/Fewer-parents-reading-to-their-children.html
Only a third (33 per cent) of parents of primary school aged children now read to them daily, compared to 43 per cent two years ago, the poll found.
Almost one in four (23 per cent) rarely or never read to their children, the research commissioned by the reading initiatives Booktime and Booked Up showed.

read to your kids EVERY day (not that this is an easy thing to do). Kids who get read to and then read themselves benefit from access to TV/internet/video games. YMMV.

Cheers,
Agony

[mzmolly]

15. K and R.

:kick:

[QC]

19. "less able to elaborate on ideas"

Anyone who teaches composition can attest to this. It is something we have to work on quite a lot now.

[NYC Liberal]

21. People here say TV, computers, video games, etc.

I agree with that, but where are the parents? Is sticking the kid in front of the TV, or buying them video games, and letting them zone out for hours just the easy way?

I'm not putting all the blame on parents...it's just something to consider.

[seabeyond]

30. you are much more generous

i do put the blame squarely on the parent shoulders. a job. parenting is a job.

[NYC Liberal]

32. I think there are other factors in some cases. But yes, parenting is definitely

the biggest.

At a family dinner at a restaurant my 5-year-old cousin's parents gave her the iPad to play with during dinner to keep her quiet. She watched a movie -- with the volume turned up -- while everyone was eating. When I was a kid and we went out to restaurants, we either got crayons to draw with until it was time to eat or we sat quietly and dealt with it if we were bored.

[seabeyond]

34. dinner at the table five nights a week. i take saturday and sunday off.

hubby may pick up a weekend or it is everyone for themselves. the dinner five nights a week is my FAVORITE time of the day. no one misses it. i work around schedules but i want to sit and chat. they dont leave until i am done eating and i have gotten soooooo slow. it is a joke in this house when family and friends come over to eat. the amount of time it takes me. tonight, we talked and talked. what happens in the day, current issues. been doing it forever and kids are 16 and 13. i HIGHLY recommend.

but part of the fun going out is a leisure dinner with chat.

but then my kids and i talk all the time. i love taking trips with them and as a family. lots of talking.

[NYC Liberal]

35. That's what it was like with my parents growing up.

They were divorced but we still always ate together with each when we were with them. I used to love talking at the dinner table. Heck I used to get so into conversations that mom or dad would have to remind me to stop talking for a minute and eat something ;)

[seabeyond]

36. ah ha. ya

that is part of the joke. but after a while i find even after i am done, everyone is still sittin adn talking.

and yes

this is how our house was when i grew up. dont throw baby out with bathwater.

[stevedeshazer]

22. Shitty diet.

High fructose corn syrup.

[mzteris]

23. um - it's a LOT more than "No Child Left Behind"

and it starts WAY earlier.

TV, video games, and toys that "do everything for you" are the real culprits.

FYI - You may not want to hear this, but hs'd kids generally DO have better imagination and creativity. They PLAY far longer than their public schooled peers. They play imaginary games, they play with multi-age groups of kids. They watch less tv, generally play fewer video games, and play outside more. They're encouraged to "think for themselves" (and entertain themselves). To FIGURE OUT THE ANSWER. To tell you why they think their answer is right, and then go back and figure out where they went wrong when you tell them the answer is incorrect. (Admittedly, ALL hs kids don't fit this description but a whole damn lot of them do.)

[jwhitesj]

39. +1

TV and Video games are ok everyonce in a while, but really, if your kid is watching TV or playing videogames more than 2 hours a day, there is a serious side effects.

[Dappleganger]

24. I don't know about other people's children...

but I know that we spend a small fortune(!) each month to help fund our teenagers' hobbies and "bright ideas". Oldest daughter is into art, ceramics, special effects makeup/hair and makes how-to videos each week. Oldest son is programming, constantly. Youngest daughter is into theater and writes her own plays; the youngest son is following in his brother's footsteps. They play video games when they want during the summer but not constantly, as they are busy with their own ventures. What I find they excel at more so than my generation is multi-tasking.

[LWolf]

26. And in other news, the sky is blue.

If educators weren't the scapegoat for the nation's ills, someone might notice that we predicted this, and that we've been saying this for a very long time.

[fujiyama]

27. Another reason I think is due to people doing less in general

and having someone else do it for them.

Take handiwork for instance - fixing a car, plumbing and electrical tasks around the house, fixing a roof, building a shed, tearing something apart just to see how it works, just to put it back together again. It seems like fewer and fewer have these skills or even the inclination to LEARN these skills. Granted, cars are in some ways much more difficult for an amateur to work on due to software control systems and embedded chips, but even around the home, it seems like the first instinct for many is to call someone to fix something or just throw it out, because it's cheaper to replace it than it is to get it fixed. And with fewer adults "tinkering", well don't expect the next generation to magically pick up these skills or become interested in learning them. Parents are a big influence and kids love to help dad (or mom - women are just as capable) in the garage, holding a screw driver, or wrench, or hammer, or whatever else...but if they don't see their parents doing it...well what do you expect?

This is due to lower emphasis on skilled trades, and a push for everyone to get a college degree, even if it provides few useful or relevant skills and even if he or she has little interest in that subject matter - because God knows we need more pencil and paper pushers and we want an economy based on tinkering with numbers instead of using physical tools! After all, we're a "service" economy now dammit! Who needs to build stuff? We can just let others do it cheaper. Meanwhile, the problem is our own skills atrophy and the secondary aspects that were in place, simple recede.

The same goes with music and art (as others mentioned) but don't forget things like home economics and wood shop. Hell, they used to even offer auto shop and drafting in some schools. But in this frenzy of cost cutting...don't expect such programs to survive...

[seabeyond]

31. youa re so right on. i tell hubby, got to grab the boys when he does.

oldest is painting the trim this summer. he helped dad get his old car ready to drive when he got his license. father taught son to fix the sprinklers.

my hubby is a fixer. my dad never was. i love that hubby does this stuff adn i want my boys to have these skills.

[tblue37]

29. For 5 years I supplemented my income by scoring for a company

that scored state assessment essays. The rubrics we had to use were designed to press every writer into a box. The idea, it seemed, was to prevent too many from falling below a certain level, but the way the rubrics were applied also prevented most from rising above that--decidedly bland and mediocre--level.

[derby378]

38. Well, that explains Rebecca Black... (n/t)

[XemaSab]

67. Hey, she may be a shitty songwriter

but at least she's trying, and at least she's putting her stuff out there.

[Johonny]

40. can creativity really be measured

as a linear scalar that is innate and capable of being ranked? Without more information, like some real details of the testing and the results with error analysis the popular press article needs be taken with a lot of faith before I bag on this modern generation of kids.

[JI7]

43. how about asking kids to write a short story, poem, art projects, even science projects

not 100 percent. but you can get an idea of quality.

[JI7]

41. not really surprising at all

[surrealAmerican]

42. Apart from all the other reasons ...

... children have less "unstructured" time now than they did 30 or 40 years ago. Creativity takes time to nurture, and that time does not happen when a child's activities are dictated by adults.

Actually it's a "perfect storm" of reasons. We, as a society, have not put enough value on creativity to attempt to instil it in our children. I've done my best with my own children, as have all you parents reading this, but as a county we could do so much better.

[Odin2005]

44. Thank Dog I bucked that trend.

[DCKit]

48. Says you!

Seriously, if you're coming back to read this post, read the rest of the thread... some damn good ideas to reverse this trend.

[marions ghost]

45. Studies have also shown

that when you cut out art, music, creative writing and drama in schools -- creativity suffers in all other fields.

Big mistake. And all in the name of eliminating the frills. So stupid. Look at the creativity needed in science, engineering, architecture, computers, business, etc etc

[roamer65]

47. Creativity takes work.

Work is exactly what they don't want, they're vegetables.

[ThoughtCriminal]

49. I know just what we need!

Standardized Creativity Tests!

:sarcasm: <---- Question 1) Why is this necessary?

[Odin2005]

58. LOL! You owe me a new monitor!

:hi:

[ATLdemocrat]

52. Everyone's less creative today

And in my experience, adults are far less creative than their children.

[LooseWilly]

53. Blaming NCLB for declining creativity shows a decided lack of creativity on the part of the testers.

Blaming NCLB and leaving out such influences as American Idol (and all other reality tv), educational software marketed to parents who want their children to only engage in "productive" video gaming, the virtual elimination of art as a viable career future, the depressive effects of hopelessness in the face of economic catastrofuckery... not to mention a decided downturn in alien abductions over the last decade... are all equally valid contributing factors to the declining creativity measured by the tests.

Or maybe wage stagnation and mass lay-offs among teachers only to substitute new young teachers and charter schools that're focused on undermining the public education system so as to privatize and re-focus the education system on profitability has something to do with it?

[AverageJoe90]

71. Don't forget blaming the Internet, games & TV, too.

Truth is, in 90% of cases, it isn't even close to true. Not only that, it's also a cop-out just about as much. My own parents were guilty of the same thing (yes both are Republicans, btw. No surprise there.).

[MilesColtrane]

57. Silly scientists

All you have to do is turn on the radio and listen for a while to confirm that.

[postatomic]

60. Nah. Kids just need someone to help them channel it

In a recent photography class conducted outside the school system I was blown away by the creativity. Kids just need someone to encourage creative thought and to reinforce positive development.

[chrisa]

61. Welcome to Standardized Test Ville

Where everything else is unimportant, except for a childhood of training to be a personality-less office management drone that has no creativity or thoughts that they haven't been told to think, and will never think outside the box or question anything an "expert" says.

Money is what matters in life. Only money. You don't need intelligence, compassion, or creativity. Just make lots of money, and you will somehow be happy. Somehow...

[tabbycat31]

65. A few non NCLB related things to this

Toys today are not as creative as they were when I was a kid (born in 1980). Sure there are a lot of the same toys, but the way they are marketed is different. Take Legos for example-- when I was younger, you just bought the basic legos and could build whatever you wanted to. Now (well about 10 years ago when I was babysitting for a kid who loved legos so I was buying them as Christmas and birthday presents for him) they are marketed where you build XYZ and XYZ only. And I could not find a "starter kit" for legos-- everything in the store was to build something specific.

And kids' wish lists now include more electronics than actual toys. When I was in 4th-5th grade, I wanted an American Girl doll more than anything and saved my money (I ultimately got the doll for Christmas). Now the 10 year old who wished for the American Girl doll would be considered "babyish" and her friends would remind her to wish for an ipod instead.

Playgrounds are not what they used to be either. What I've noticed is that instead of making a playground designed for a 10 year old, they make them designed for a toddler. For example, the playground in my town only has swings designed for toddlers instead of one designed for a toddler and another for an older kid. Kids are not being encouraged to play outside of organized sports.

A lot also has to do with the culture of the child's environment. Where I went to school, creativity was very discouraged and depending on the teacher, you would get in trouble for thinking outside the box. Not to mention that I went to a school where individually was VERY strongly discouraged and kids would get bullied for it.

[XemaSab]

68. Here:

http://www.amazon.com/LEGO-Ultimate-Building-Set-Pieces/dp/B000NO9GT4/ref=acc_glance_t_ai_ps_t_3

:D

[XemaSab]

69. I think there are two parts to this:

Kids might be less creative, but in the realm of creativity the standards are often low.

For example, I took woodworking when I was a kid. Most of the stuff that we could build came from a pattern, so you would start with "building" a sanding block, which involved cutting the wood, sanding it, and tacking on sandpaper. A slightly more complicated project was building a simple toy paddleboat that was powered by a rubber band, and that involved drilling a hole, gluing in a dowel, making the paddle, and other nailing, sawing, and gluing steps culminating with sanding it with your sanding block. The most complicated project that there was was building a go-kart, which involved LOTS of steps, and all kinds of things to saw, glue, screw, plane, drill, nail, and so forth.

Even though these projects were all very scripted, they all resulted in toys that one could be creative with. The real kicker, though, was that you had to learn the basic steps before you could build something really cool like a go-kart. And of course once you got to the level where you were confident and capable enough to build a working go-kart, you had the woodworking skills to make whatever you wanted.

I worry that in things like creative writing, most teachers are happy to see kids writing even the most basic stuff and so the teachers are afraid to push the kids towards more complex creative development.

If every kid only learns to make a sanding block and doesn't go any further, ain't gonna be no go-karts to have fun in during the break.

[XemaSab]

72. For the lulz, I looked up the program, and 'sho nuff:

New students are required to first build a simple sanding block, which introduces them to basic carpentry skills and gives them an immediate sense of accomplishment and satisfaction. The sanding block is also a tool they will use when sanding subsequent projects. Next they usually build their own Super Top project. This group endeavor serves to introduce a wide variety of tools and basic carpentry skills. Once basic proficiency is achieved, the range of projects the children can choose from also increases.


http://www.kidscarpentry.net/Kids_Carpentry/Projects.html