March 22, 2006
Creativity Thieves Could Be Stealing From Your Children -
But you hold the remote!
by Brenda Ellis
Every caring parent wants their child to enlist in becoming an active and creative individual, yet some children aren't signing up. If this is happening in your family, as it is in so many, you may be clueless as to why. You've done everything right, including joining a homeschool mom's group where you hear of the wonderful things everyone else's children are doing. You've worked as hard as the other mothers to find the best curriculum, given your children a comfortable home, and practiced patience and understanding everyday, but your children don't seem motivated to join in with this idea of home and family. The facts are accumulating, the articles are out, the American family is inundated with modern electrical gadgets that separate them from each other, rather than bringing them together, as promised. Try this. Forget for a few days what your children won't do. Watch what your children are doing. Most children are being carried into another world through TV, video games, and the computer. These worlds are so fast paced and exciting that the real world can't compete for their attention. Most parents have monitored these things so that violence and unwanted material is not reaching their children, however, the situation we are discussing is not about the content of programs, but about the outcome of using the devices. Children watching them, learn to be passive. They learn to expect everyone else to perform while they watch and judge whether what's happening is worth their attention. When it isn't fast paced, exciting, or taking them somewhere wonderful, they turn the real world off and go back to the TV, video, or computer screen. We accept these devices as normal because we grew up with them and because we are told the programs have educational value. The programers may have tried, but using the device itself works against many worthwhile human attributes, all important to real education. Those things include developing an attention span so that one can stick to tasks for longer periods of time, developing conversation and diplomacy skills by talking to members of the family, thinking one's own thoughts, observing the real world (nature) and coming to an appreciation for it, coming up with new and creative ideas, solving problems of balance and building when playing, making things of value to oneself (crafts, objects of interest, art, music), play or acting out a situation (what children used to do), physical activity (riding a bike, skating, teaching the dog to fetch). The list of what is not happening when a child sits in front of a screen goes on and on. But we aren't helpless. These thieves aren't hiding out somewhere. They usually take up the most valuable spaces in our homes. The great news is that they all come with on/off switches and as we make new rules for our children, they learn to adapt. Whether you decide to limit time or pull the plug forever, your children will complain of boredom. But, boredom makes baking cookies with Mom sound fun. It makes that Lego set look more interesting. It may even cause them to wander outdoors and have another look at that playground equipment dad built for them last summer. In the end it sets Mom free because the children will learn to create their own activities and they may even pay more attention to those great curriculums you paid so much for.
Brenda Ellis is the publisher of www.ArtisticPursuits.com and author of the series, Artistic Pursuits, a comprehensive art program for home or classroom use, grades K-12. These user friendly books offer art instruction, art appreciation and art history in a self guided manner while encouraging artistic expression. She welcomes inquiries at alltheanswers@artisticpursuits.com.
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