Schools Kill Creativity

 Ken Robinson stated that, “If you’re not prepared to be wrong, you’ll never come up with anything original.”  This statement makes so much sense.  Anything original is new.  Often new things may not work the first time you try them.  Therefore, you are going to be wrong, sometimes repeatedly, before you will get it right.  This requires the ability to accept that you can be wrong and be prepared for that inevitability.  Without this ability you will never try to develop new or original, never be an entrepreneur, and never be a creative inventor, simply because you are unprepared, and perhaps afraid, of being wrong.

I agree with Robinson that children are so naturally creative.  Every young child I know is always asking questions and wants to know more about everything.  I think though the heart of Robinson’s argument is that when children are young, they are just naturally creative and have amazing imaginations.  The assumptions, viewpoints, and restrictions of others have not yet been implanted in their minds to hold them back.  Much of this can occur through education, because instead of allowing children to be creative, we have an education and societal system that denigrates being wrong or different.  Children’s minds become molded to conform, and as a result, I believe much of their creativity and imagination disappears. 

I agree with Robinson that having a degree these days does not make a person unique.  It seems like so many people out there go to college, graduate and get a degree.  As a result, just having the degree does not make you stand out to employer and does not guarantee you a job.  As a matter of fact, so many people with college degrees that are in their twenties do not have jobs.  A recent Associated Press articled stated that approximately 50% of all college graduates in their twenties are unemployed or underemployed.  This is a sad state of affairs, but it shows how the world and educational needs are evolving.  Education needs to be tailored to produce degrees that students not only want to earn, but that they will be able to get a job with in the future.