Bring Back Imagination

give children space to create

Imagination is one of the most important skills to cultivate with children. It’s not just technology and ai that are ripping the imagination out of schools, it’s the entire system. This is connected to so many other things I have discussed here, it’s not just one thing, it’s the overdocumentation, planning the planning, testing, the rampant cheating with ai, the overuse of technology. It’s been happening for a long time. This has been happening for a while for a variety of reasons.

Let’s talk about increased testing: Students in the U.S. spend an average of around 16 school days annually on state and district standardized tests, but this varies widely, with some districts seeing 9-10 days for state tests alone. This fact disgusts me, I also think it’s on the lower side of reality. That statistic doesn’t include unit tests, practice tests, district benchmark tests, diagnostic testing, and many other forms of assessments. From my observation, I think about ⅓ of their time in school testing. That doesn’t leave a ton of space for creative expression and experimentation. Testing companies are deeply embedded into education and they are profiting off of the misery of children. I think most parents would be genuinely shocked to find out how much time their child is spending on testing. It is inherently evil to make children live this way and I think history will look down on us for this. I know that might sound like I am being too dramatic, but I don’t think anyone else is being dramatic enough.

Grind culture and hustle mindset: What we are seeing in schools doesn’t happen in a vacuum, it is indicative of our values as a society. America does not value rest, America values MONEY. We live in a grind culture. Look around, there’s evidence everywhere. The girl boss epidemic? Hobbies being turned into side hustles? 9-5 turning into 8-5 or even 8-6? The expectation to check your work email on your phone constantly? No maternity leave? Only 10-15 days of PTO per year? No extended breaks for holidays or summer? All of these things show us that our culture does not care about rest or rejuvenation and we are instilling those values into our children. I personally believe ALL children should have 60-90 minutes of unstructured play every single day. Yes, including high schoolers. When I tell people this, one of the most common responses from adults is “I don’t get 90 minutes a day of free time!” well you should! Just because we are suffering we think children should suffer too?? Fuck that! We all deserve better! We cannot explore imagination when we are constantly working…