7 ways public school kills creativity

Public school kills creativity directly and indirectly. From their dated model that’s more notorious than ever before to clumping kids in massive cohorts.

I could write an entire book on this one. While parents and those running schools might think they’re doing a public good, it couldn’t be further from the truth.

For one, those holding jobs in the public sector, not just schools, earn money from tax dollars and therefore, theft. And as a “service” to its community, the school proceeds to destroy organic curiosity and creativity in many of those it’s supposed to educate.

After a good 12 to 14 years of conditioning, these schools have done nothing but create compliant drones for the most part. Drones that are often stressed out, indoctrinated to believe that working their asses off and making someone else a fortune while paying taxes to the same system that sucked the creativity out of them is “just the way things are.”

Sad, but true. But what creates this mess in the first place? Below, I got seven ways public school kills creativity in kids. And when most reach adulthood, they’re ready and raring to bend their knee to the authority that left them with no other choice.

1 – The rigid model

Public schools don’t even use organic methods. Instead, they expect students to attend class for 45 minutes to an hour, then, at the sound of a bell, race to their next class. They’ll do this between six and eight times a day.

They’re expected to keep their voices down, walk either in a straight line or in a single direction, with teachers patrolling the hallways. And who cares if they actually found joy and fulfillment in what they were studying before that bell rang?

They may have loved that book or play they were discussing in Language Arts. But guess what? Now it’s time to learn about functions in math class. That totally disrupts any flow a student could’ve achieved in the previous class. Repeat that for years on end, and is it any wonder why so many people spin their wheels in life?

2 – Snarky teachers and peers

This should be Number 1, because nothing is more discouraging to creativity. What if a kid’s writing the rough draft of a story and a small group surrounds them and (loudly) asks what they’re doing before berating the work?

Trust me, I got numerous personal stories on this one. But it’s not only peers. I’ve seen teachers do this on multiple occasions.

What message is that sending to a kid in grade school, middle school, or even high school? A lot of kids naturally want to “fit in,” or aren’t yet well-equipped to handle judgment and unsolicited critique.

3 – Mountains of homework

Instead of exploring their own interests after school, students instead are forced to focus on more bland subject matter they didn’t get enough of during the eight-hour school day.

Some will point to extracurriculars as a way to further explore interests. But there are two problems with that. One, extracurriculars limit choice to what the school offers, and they vary by school. Two, extracurriculars, and even homework, are ways for the school, and therefore the State, to stay entrenched in a student’s life.

That soft surveillance never stops. And it hinders kids from undertaking their own interests. If untethered, they would at least have 16 school-free hours per weekday. This would let them pursue what they want without that homework they’re neglecting looming in the back of their mind.

4 – One-sided narratives

One reason I’ve become such a firebrand against traditional schooling. Public schools teach State-approved, one-sided narratives. I didn’t realize this until I learned about Ludwig von Mises, the Austrian School of Economics, and revisionist history.

Imagine if public schools taught those in the same light as its State-driven propaganda. That would open the floor for some deep, intense debates. Such intensity would further unleash creativity. Instead, teachers insist students recite and repeat what they’re told through testing methods.

5 – Lack of hands-on learning

Some might fight me on this one. They’ll point to chemistry labs, dissections in biology, and other means of “practical, hands-on learning.” But the problem is this: it’s rare.

Over 90 percent of the time, kids sit at a desk in silence, take notes, listen to lectures, and receive a mountain of homework. All on a subject they’ll have little memory of in the coming years unless they take up a career based around that subject.

6 – The Employment, Enrollment, Enlistment pipeline

The three “E’s” that my old public school follows to this day. While helping students seek employment, enrollment in higher education, or military enlistment seems noble, they share one common denominator: conformity over creativity.

If I asked the current superintendent about teaching kids how to own and operate a “freedom-based business,” they’d probably return a blank stare. Even if such a route would liberate them from the restraints all of the above tie them to. Hell, even landing employment in a “dream job” chains you down. Trust me on that last one.

7 – Factory-worker mindset

While some teachers undoubtedly tell kids “You can be whatever you want to be,” that’s hardly the case in practice. These same teachers adhere to the dated “factory-worker” mindset. They teach the same, rigid curriculum that involves silence, note-taking, homework, intense studying, and testing methods.

This isn’t teaching craftsmanship or bringing out the best in a student’s unique abilities. It’s where the “good intentions” mindset contradicts itself. If these teachers truly wanted to bring out the best in each student, they wouldn’t follow the same blueprint that killed creativity in the first place.

There is hope and light at the end of the tunnel

Public school kills creativity while pretending it’s educating kids, but that doesn’t need to be the case. Unschooling, homeschooling, microschooling, learning pods, and niche education opportunities are more rampant now than ever before, and they don’t need to destroy the creative mind.

The Ron Paul Curriculum (not an affiliate link) is one that has been around for a while, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Just a simple search will reveal hundreds of different market-driven opportunities that probably won’t turn a kid into a compliant drone.

The unique market-based method I’ve injected into my young adult fantasy series, Arcane Elemental Academy, is one of them. My protagonist, Yote Diamondback, attends an institution with 32 schools that relentlessly compete to recruit and hang onto students.

That means they better provide a damn good service or they’ll go belly up. As for Yote, she’s mesmerized by how many ways students can learn. She’s also surprised her best way to learn isn’t the rigid Prussian model she grew used to.

But how does Yote discover Arcane’s existence? Find out by reading the first three chapters of the book. See how Yote goes from craving acceptance into a high-end traditional institution to discovering Arcane and what it has to offer.