Schools Kill Creativity

Sir Ken Robinson was funny and whitty. I was going to prepare myself for another boring video but again for a second time in a row I was impressed and my interest was kept. Sir Ken said that our children are the future. We have been teaching them to be school professors instead of creative individuals. I like and appreciate his take on the lady that is a famous choreographer that was a young girl that was unable to sit still was a dancer and went to dance school instead of being diagnosed with what is known today as ADHD. I agree with what he said but also disagree with what he said about medication and turning the creativity off. I have ADHD and now that I am on medication I am finally able to sit down and read a chapter in a book for school. I also do not keep my husband awake all night any more with my shaking in my sleep. I am not on so much medication that my creativity is hindered. I never had much talent to begin with. I sing off key, have poor balance, and cannot draw worth dirt however I do like to sew and do needle work. My creativity is making things with my hands. Give me a quilt to sew together any day. My daughter also has a disorder that makes it so that she would never sleep and her mind was always on the go 1,000 miles an hour. She is now on a dose of medication that would put a full grown male to sleep. However because of the chemical imbalance in her brain it slowes her down enough to start to listen and pay attention to others. However my husband and myself watch her to make sure she is still herself. That is one of the important things for us. She can sing, and draw, and act. She is able to write the story's she creates in her mind now on paper where she could not do that before. We do not want her over medicated but we do want her happy and healthy. She will watch a movie and suddenly pause it and start drawing a panther or a horse or a dog. She even draws our pets. I do agree however that sometimes a standard school is not right for every one. She could not make it threw a regular school day in a standard school system. The school system finally agreed when she was in 7th grade to send her to an alternative learning school. She is now thriving at school also. I agree that there are a lot of children that are out there that are having their creativity stifled. Music and art are of the first programs to be cut with this no child left behind program. However that is another thing to blog about. I have my opinions and they do not belong here at this time. Hooray for Sir Ken. Keep up the good fight to keep our children healthy, moving, and creative.