I’ve spoken previously about the cuts to educational funding, but I truly feel that this is a vitally important issue to our nation. In politics, when we talk about making the world better for our children, that conversation never seems to include their education. How can we realistically improve their world, if we don’t try to improve their knowledge and abilities? Arts funding, in particular, has such a low priority in the school systems that many children are denied access to artistic programs. This is why a talk I saw recently at the 2006 TED conference resonated so deeply for me. Sir Ken Robinson spoke about the need for the arts in education and the ways that our current system kills the creativity in our children.
In the talk, Robinson described at length the imagination and creativity that children naturally have at the beginning of their lives. They are reckless and fearless in a way that adults rarely remember how to be. It leads them to dream big, impossible dreams. But we send them through educational systems that teach them to fear failure and play it safe, and only to focus on those important subjects like math and science. “We are educating people out of their creativity,” he said, early on. Arts programs are brushed off as frivolous and inconsequential to our society.
Robinson told a story at the end of his speech that specifically meant a lot to me. He talked about a professional dancer that did badly in school because she could never stop moving around. At the time, they recognized that she needed to be up and moving, and sent her to a dance school. Unfortunately, today she would probably just be loaded up with Ritalin. I had a similar experience growing up. I had trouble fitting in. I always felt awkward and different. When I walked into a theater for the first time, I was finally around people like me. I finally felt like I belonged somewhere. That day changed everything for me. I honestly don’t know where I would be if I hadn’t found that creative outlet that was essential to me. I’m afraid for the future of our country if the next generation is unable to find their own outlet. The arts in our education systems must be saved if we have any hope of preserving the creativity and imaginations of our children.