Creativity

Is technology killing children's creativity?

What a question, and I don't think it can really be answered one way or the other. Every child is different. Every child is raised differently.

Some are naturally creative. Kids may ignore the technology and the busyness around them to paint, sing, draw and create new things. They know how to play. They spend hours playing. They create toys and mud pies. They know how to get dirty. They are not afraid of exploring and finding new creatures and spaces. They don't care if the world is moving at a faster pace. They note the small things in life...kind of reminds me of when I was a kid.

Technology has also modified the creativity of some children. Some children have those creative juices and rather than expressing them through painting or drawing, they modify their creativity. Songs and poems become blogs for others to enjoy. Painting and drawing become graphic design and playing with pictures and photoshop. Their creations are "updated" and very beautiful.

Still other children have had their creativity robbed by the busyness of life or by the option of technology. It's only "natural" for children to choose to turn on the tv or log into the computer after a long day of school. It's how they socialize today. It's how kids unwind. You really can't blame them. It's not like many kids have a choice when they have a backyard the size of two cars. Where can they explore? Where can they be kids?

Technology and social networking is how I stay in contact with my family and friends. We have an extended family facebook group and it's so great to plan get-togethers through this medium because no one is left out and everyone is involved in planning. It's not telephone tag any more. Facebook makes life easy.

I've become more "dependent" on TV too. I love just unwinding with friends or my husband by popping in a chick flick or a season of Chuck. It's easy, effortless and after a busy day/week, unwinding is needed.

But what would I do without TV, internet or technology? Sure, I'd probably read more, but what else would I do. I have a list of things I'd love to do or make. I love to create new things to make my home modern yet cozy. In a way, technology robs me of my time and my creativity. Without technology, I would be more motivated to create new things, spend more conversational time with family and do new things. I would go on more walks, start gardening and try cooking something new.

In times when technology is not the centre of my life and when I am at home away from the busyness of school, these areas of my life do take precedent. I love these times and I love spending real, quality, time with friends and family. When I'm at this point in my life, I forget that Facebook has not been checked for several days.

For some reason, this area of life is hard to attain when I am at school. Maybe it's because school is in the city, away from my family and all of my work is completed on a computer. Maybe it's because I stay in contact with people or maybe it;s just because technology is my only source of entertainment that I've found in this world of school. Maybe it's because I've invested my time in getting to know the people and places in my small-town and because I don't plan to stay in Ancaster or the Hamilton area all of my life, I don't put the same effort into getting to be familiar with this area. I'm not entirely sure.

That's not to say that I spend all of my time interacting with technology at school. Just much more time. I love talking and hanging out with friends at Redeemer, but as far as creativity goes, all of my creative juice goes into school and projects and there is not much time for anything creative that I enjoy.

I believe that a combination of technology and busyness has made us less creative. I am thankful that I have the time and the space (sometimes) to express my creativity. I sometimes fear that I will be too busy to garden, to create new things for my home or to experiment in the kitchen.

It's all about priorities. I need to ensure that I keep recreation and creativity near the top of my list.