Researcher scoured 300,000 creativity tests going back to the 1970s
It sounds like the complaint of a jaded adult: Kids these days are narrow-minded and just not as creative as they used to be.
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.
Has modern society really extinguished the creative spark among our youth?
Experts say creativity is innate, so it can't really be lost. But it needs to be nurtured.
"It's not that creativity can necessarily disappear," said Ron Beghetto, an education psychologist at the University of Oregon. "But it can be suppressed in particular contexts."
Play stations, X box and nintendo are to blame!
ReplyDeleteYou're exactly right, 11:23. When we were kids (I'm in my late 60's) and our kids were kids back in the '60's and '70's, we entertained ourselves. We made up all sorts of games that could keep us occupied for hours. Now all the new electronic things do the entertaining for the kids; they don't have to have any imagination, as the game creators have used their imagination. My grandkids spend hours watching video screens and playing with hand-held devices. There's little interaction betwen kids these days; their too fixated on their games. Even with all this "stuff," how often do you hear your kids complain of being bored. Technology is wonderful, but it can also be destructive.
ReplyDeleteAs much fun as these games seem to be to these kids. Think of all the fun we had without a video game. We were glad to get out of the house and go play. If you sat to long in the house your parents would always come up with some more chores to keep you busy. We played in the woods, creeks, ponds or even went to friends swimming pools in the summertime. When the sun went down it was time for kick the can, freeze tag or just laying in the cool grass and watching the stars. When winter came we prayed for snow, 1 it got us out of school and 2 it meant we could go sleigh riding or make snow forts. Oh how I miss the good ole days
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