The modern era seems to be something of the past. Inestead we live in a post-modern society, in which children are lacking in creativity. Kids as young as eight years old are glued to their t.v/computer screens. They have more gaming consoles than ever before and have accounts on twitter and Facebook as well as having the latest phones and gadgets such as the iPhone and the iPod. Those my age (and perhaps even older) will agree with me when I say (without sounding too nostalgic) that when I was their age all I had was some paper, a pen/pencil and an imagination. Digital and/or technical devices are what is stopping the young generation from exploring 'the big wide world.' Today in society, people allow themselves to be part is social boxes. Society socialises people into boxes. Society's moral code puts us in boxes. We're surrounded by boxes. Boxes define us. Those who do not adhere to the norms of the box are outcasted. Different people have different boxes with their own specific rules. We want and need identity. We as society, overall, need to and want to connect to others in the same box as ourselves. Few adopt the idea of self-identity and individualism.
Creativity allows us to grow independently, without generalising ourselves to cliches or stereotypes of our sex, religion race etc. Strange are the times when children pester their their parents into being the 'Jones's family' and get them all sorts of different gadgetry. Whilst this stops the pester power of children, in reality they are only competing with their friends to be accepted into the 'cool' crew. Sure I also used pester power, but for things that could actually expand my mind in different areas of the world. for example I used to read Encyclopedia's as a kid. Which kid read those these days? We need to teach our youth to become more creative so that they can grow without the urge to want to be represented and identified by others in a box. Make your own box.
However, some identities are linked and attached to us and are absolute. For example, our religious/spiritual beliefs, ethnic background, race, etc, will always be linked to us and therefore it can be argued that we are automatically put into social boxes. Although this is true - to an extent - creativity allows for people to think for themselves, thus enabling them to reject the norms of the box. This is the normative definition of what Durkhiem calls, deviant. Deviance isn't being a rebel, it's being creative. It allows for self-expression and a willingness to learn. To learn because you have a love of gaining knowledge not learnoing because you must. These skills are essential in children and can only be acieved if we continue to stop with our children spending ridiculous amounts of time on digital gaming and social networking and go out and explore, whether it be with their peers or even by themselves. Sounds hard, I know but people once thought that man could never land on the moon and that the Earth was flat. Look how that turned out.
Creativity allows us to grow independently, without generalising ourselves to cliches or stereotypes of our sex, religion race etc. Strange are the times when children pester their their parents into being the 'Jones's family' and get them all sorts of different gadgetry. Whilst this stops the pester power of children, in reality they are only competing with their friends to be accepted into the 'cool' crew. Sure I also used pester power, but for things that could actually expand my mind in different areas of the world. for example I used to read Encyclopedia's as a kid. Which kid read those these days? We need to teach our youth to become more creative so that they can grow without the urge to want to be represented and identified by others in a box. Make your own box.
However, some identities are linked and attached to us and are absolute. For example, our religious/spiritual beliefs, ethnic background, race, etc, will always be linked to us and therefore it can be argued that we are automatically put into social boxes. Although this is true - to an extent - creativity allows for people to think for themselves, thus enabling them to reject the norms of the box. This is the normative definition of what Durkhiem calls, deviant. Deviance isn't being a rebel, it's being creative. It allows for self-expression and a willingness to learn. To learn because you have a love of gaining knowledge not learnoing because you must. These skills are essential in children and can only be acieved if we continue to stop with our children spending ridiculous amounts of time on digital gaming and social networking and go out and explore, whether it be with their peers or even by themselves. Sounds hard, I know but people once thought that man could never land on the moon and that the Earth was flat. Look how that turned out.
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