"How Schools Kill Creativity"

http://www.ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity.html - Inspiration for this post came from this TED talk. It would be helpful to watch it to get the background ideas that Robinson talks about.

At first class this title seemed the opposite of what I thought schools were supposed to do. I thought schools were meant to improve our minds, which in fact they do, but I had never though of school as crushing my creativity. As Ken Robinson began to talk I was able to really relate to the examples that he was giving. I have been taught under strict guidelines how things should be completed. He thinks that children are innately creative because they are not afraid of being wrong. Because the worst thing you can do in school is be wrong we are grown and taught out of being creative in order to not be wrong.  Public school really started in the 19th century around the time of the industrial revolution in order to cater to new job needs. Schools told kids that certain subjects were not as important because they would not be able to get a job in that subject. There is a hierarchy among the subjects. "Kids are not taught dance as much as they are taught mathematics." Robinson emphasizes the importance of being creative and the fact that everyone cannot be assessed based on the same standards. His talk reminded me of a quote from Albert Einstein "Everyone is a genius, but if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree it will live its whole life believing it's stupid." I feel like this has really been emphasized since I have been at UNC. What do you think about the fact the schools seem to educated us to eventually focus on one side of our brain? What is the value of other subjects if you are not able to get a job with them? Even if you are a great artist you may be a starving one and no one wants to live like that. Though an interesting example he gave of Gillian Lynne who in todays time would have likely been given ADHD medication and told to sit down and be quiet. She would have probably never created the world famous musical choreography of Cats. What could be changed about schools as not to suppress the natural creativity of children?

Our Attraction to Violence

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1776791-high-school-football-player-dies-after-helmet-to-helmet-collision?utm_source=cnn.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=editorial&hpt=hp_t3

Is it the thrill of watching our favorite player Gio running the gaming winning touchdown 73 yards to beat NC state or is it the skull crushing sound of a big hit that makes us so enthralled to watch football? What is the human characteristic innate in so many of us that keeps us on the edge of our seat during the season's biggest games? I admit I am surely guilty of it, gaining excitement not only from a big play but hit that knocks a player down, “cleans his clock” as some people may say. And to what cost is this enjoyment and adrenaline rush? This article from CNN details the loss of the precious young life of a high school athlete. Running back Damon James lost his life because of a helmet-to-helmet hit in a game at his New York high school. Even with all the regulations and new rules that are being implemented into the game these tragedies still occur. I have played the game myself and I understand the love and drive that comes from playing a sport. People love the sports they play which is why they are willing to take the risk of sustaining an injury, but the risk seems especially high and more serve in football. “The National Center for Catastrophic Sport Injury Research at the University of North Carolina reported 25 deaths of high school football players from 2003 to 2013.”  Should we continue to allow ourselves to be captivated by this sport? The recently publicized issue with the NFL settlement to their players brought to light how serve the repercussions of playing football can be. Is it wrong the teams in the NFL are so profitable while some players are left with handicaps the rest of their lives because of hits and concussions that they suffered? Is it enough to try to change to rule? It still seems inevitable that these injuries will occur.

Carolina Schools - Falling Behind

     http://www.newsobserver.com/2013/08/23/3130949/greeting-the-new-school-year-in.html

     This article from the newsobserver.com makes clear the problems that have been increasing in North Carolina schools every year. Budget cuts are ever increasing which may seem necessary in the short term, only hinder our students in the longer run. I have been personally connected to many of the issues in our public school system because I have been a student there as well as my mother is a high school English teacher. Every year class sizes have been increasing and the number of teacher positions have been decreasing. Parents are becoming concerned over the quality of education their children are getting and teachers are working longer and longer hours trying to find a way to manage the many students in their classrooms. Currently my mother has 36 kids in a classroom that was meant for closer to 25 students. This is not nearly as bad as what is on the schedule for next semester, she has 76 kids on the roster for her 11th grade English class. What can be done about these every worsening conditions in our schools? I know my mother works tirelessly along with the many other teachers in the school system but it is simply to much for the school system to manage with so few resources. North Carolina is 46th in public school rankings with many teachers leaving the profession because of the poor pay and lack of support. Would you want to go into this field? Why do you think our officials do not see the need to invest in our children? They are the ones that will need to work and bring money into our economy. If they are not educated the public school system will only consider to suffer because there will be even less funding to give to schools. We have to invest in our schools now and stop the positive feedback cycle before it spirals out of control. Where do you think the problem started? Why are North Carolina public schools falling behind while we have some of the top universities in the country here? What can be done to most effectively fix this problem?