Students are sitting in the classroom. The clock is ticking. Their chairs are starting to hurt, and they have adjusted their positions about five times. They turn and look longingly at their sketchbook sitting at the bottom of their homework-flooded backpack. They have not had the time to touch it in a while. Instead, they have been buried in homework, forcing their creativity to sit on the back burner. This is what school does to students.

We at the Tom Tom believe that our current education system stunts creativity. Creativity, as defined by Oxford Languages, is the use of the imagination or original ideas, especially in producing an artistic work. 

Students are often discouraged from practicing subjects like the arts or humanities because they are believed to be unable to get a job that offers high title or pay. The education system is one that prioritizes high academic ability. A student is considered intelligent when they get high grades–but is that all that being intelligent means?

There are nine types of intelligence that students can have; linguistic, logical-mathematical, music-rhythm, bodily-kinesthetic, visual-spatial, naturalist, interpersonal, intrapersonal, and existential. Out of those intelligences, linguistic and mathematical intelligences are most emphasized in schools and are usually made a priority over subjects like the arts. As a result, students that do not specialize in those intelligences can feel inferior to their peers that do. Sir Ken Robinson was a British author and speaker on education–he delivered a Ted Talk in 2006 titled “Do schools kill creativity?”. In it, he asserts that all kids are born with different talents and that they are “squandered, pretty ruthlessly” as we grow up. Our education system has two hierarchies: the first one having the most “useful” subjects up top. These subjects are typically topics like math or science. According to Robinson, “the consequence is that many highly talented, creative people think they’re not because the thing that they’re good at in school wasn’t valued, or was actually stigmatized.”

The thing is, school systems across America follow a pretty strict guideline: memorize, test, ace it. Mistakes are often stigmatized, and the letter grade that follows can destroy a student’s self-esteem (as stated by William Peace University, “their [students’] self-worth is tied to their grades”). Students are awarded for excellent memorization skills but are not awarded for other skills such as musical composition or art. As a result, students feel isolated from their hobbies because, once again, arts and humanities will not get them a good job. We can not keep discouraging kids from pursuing their creative dreams as creativity is essential to life—without it, America would not have historic events like the Harlem Renaissance or monuments like Mount Rushmore. 

So, why do we as a country choose to view creativity as inferior to logic? While it is true that logic is absolutely necessary for the growth of young students, so is creativity. The International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) is an organization dedicated to helping students “take charge of their learning.” According to ISTE, creativity improves problem-solving skills, develops critical thinking, and also helps teach students to prepare for the unknown.

And it is not just helping students think better. Creativity is what makes life interesting. It’s the very thing that sparked cultural movements, like the previously mentioned Harlem Renaissance or today’s contemporary art movements. It is what most can say they “fall back on” during hard times. 

While we still have room for improvement, our school systems are certainly taking measures to emphasize creativity. For example, students who exemplify more of a bodily-kinesthetic intelligence (in other words, athleticism) have access to sports careers and scholarships to help them achieve those. Extracurricular activities that encourage creativity such as Art Club or even Competitive Speech are also popular. Some teachers have also been working to actively incorporate less “sit-and-take-notes” approach to lessons, but rather more lessons that promote things like movement and other creative activities.

To continue improving, while our school systems should most definitely continue to teach “basic” subjects like math and science, we should also be trying to highlight more creative subjects like music and art. Lessons could possibly encourage less memorization, more problem-solving, and even connections to the real world.  

Teachers should be allowing students to fail as they learn. Mistakes should not be stigmatized. Failure is the mother of creativity, and failure teaches students to persevere. In a world where things will inevitably attempt to knock them down, students need to be able to get back up on their feet. And that starts with encouraging our students not to just be able to find ‘x’, but to be creative enough to adapt to anything thrown their way.