Seeking Opinions: Lack of Creativity and Culture in Schools Due to Cutbacks?

It's your job to ensure that your children enjoy music, dance, theater, and art, etc. No one else's. Take away their IMing, their texting, their PSP and XBox and Wii. Make them interact and help immerse them in the arts and the cultural activities you want them to experience. You're their parent. Parent, and don't them them make the rules.

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I think its a major concern. My son is just a toddler but he has been listening to all varieties of music since he was born (ultimatley since he was conceived since so do I and my husband) His favorite is Reggae, Jerry Garcia and the Jack Johnson Curious George Song (see, balance!) He's been given endless opportunities to play with crayons from the minute he could hold them, he's had books to look at since he was in the bassinet, and he play with all sorts of musical instruments, mostly "toys" but he loves my mom and my sisters real pianos. I think its important for parents to start their children out young with balance and exposure to everything from arts & crafts, reading and even sports b/c you have to burn off all that energy too and thats a part of health and well being. I believe kids also need to just have time to be free and be kids...FREE play. I also try to keep some of my sons toys basic, not to many lights and sounds or electronics so he has the chance to use his mind. Don't get me wrong, he watches Sprout and Noggin channels like a champ, he's already learned how to use the mouse on a computer and some of those lights and sounds electronic toys ARE fun...our hope is to plant a seed. I'm sure he'll get away from it at some point as he gets older, maybe he won't but even if he gets away with it and gets caught up in his teen years, we hope that he goes back to it...then again we also hope he just gets really serious about it and never lets it go b/c my husband I both wish we played a musical instrument or I wish I had become a singer )my singing career ended wtih the high school chorus. ; ) LOL. As far as the schools, I think its ridiculous to take away programs that emphazise arts and culture - but then again, the schools aren't the parents, we are, so its up to us! Sometimes we expect the schools to provide EVERYTHING our child needs, when I feel that as the parents, thats our job.

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I understand and agree about the big picture, but you have to work with your kids in your home and in your community. My daughter is very creative, beyond my beliefs. I did begin guiding her as a toddler. I took her to museums and parks and played outside with her. She still rememebers at twelve. She quides herself now, but she has no cell phone and she doesn't watch tv - that helps. She is always cutting and pasting, building diaroma's or making witty funnies strips. She is also an only child. That doesn't always helps, but sometimes. She did ballet, but quit. She does violin, chess, and choir. She loves to make cards and write poems.

I think you have to take each child as an individual and guide according to their personality.

I also think you have to start young and self esteem comes from even the smallest accomplishments.

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We didn't have a computer when my sons were little boys and I was mindful of their TV intake. I realized that my babies were only going to be little for a short time, so I played with them both often and every day. My husband and I would both get right down on the floor to play with them, we'd build things with them with blocks and Legos and Lincoln Logs, we'd set up the matchbox cars and race tracks and get all the Hess trucks out to play with. We'd toss the kids into the air and twirl them and run around with them outside and push them on the swings in summer in our yard and build snowmen with them in winter. We'd take them to the park or just go for bike rides with them. We read to them every day and said lots of I love yous. We sure do miss those days now, but we still have lots of fun with them as teens too. Of course all the technical stuff is in our lives now, but we do take time out to play a board game or card game together too. There is a happy medium to life.
D. xo

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find after school activities that will bring these other things into her life.

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Limit screen time, this means TV, computer, video games. I allow my kids some of this, so they know what other kids are talking about so they can fit in. But mostly, kids want to fit in with their mom and dad. I started young with playing classical and opera music. My husband is Irish, we play alot of traditional Irish music. We bring them to cultural concerts in our area. My girls both used to take Irish dance, now only one does. But both girls play flute and my son is going to learn piano (he's almost 5). It has to be a mindset that parents want to introduce their kids to culture. I also make sure that plenty of art stuff is available. Plus we have tons of books. All these things will hopefully contribute to a well rounded child. As my kids move into teen years, I expect they will lose interest, but I think that it will come back one they get into college and adulthood.

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Although my daughters school tries to engage students in creative things, the students just want to hang out on computers or text all the time. She's in middle school and I made her attend the after-school at her school. She wanted me to take her out half way through because she just want to come home and relax (yeah right), but I told her she had to attend because they offered good apprenticeships. Usually when she wasn't in it, she would be flipping channels on the TV or be on the computer or eating everything in sight.
Over the holiday break, I was like, call a friend, I'll set up a place to meet, but she didn't want to do that. What made her even more upset was that our TV broke on New Years day, so the next couple of days she was going crazy.
For the next break, I am going to ask the school along with parents to pick a place where the students can meet during break. (Bowling, skating etc) Something where they can be engaged minus the gadgets. It gets harder and harder to engage tweens and teens because they consider everything boring, wack and old timey. I'm going to suggest that the school also ask each grade to contribute to some sort of community service so students can have a sense of giving back.
About me- Mom of three (2 boys, 1 girl) in NYC
-Sandy

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