A surprising (or perhaps not so surprising) number of self-made millionaires/billionaires are college drop outs. Why? I think that a college/university education teaches future entrepreneurs the "tried and true" method which, in the end, is "tried" so much that it ultimately results in mediocrity, whereas the creativity of one whose mind has not been raped by the by-the-book professors is allowed greater room to blossom and find different, better avenues in which to succeed.

In conclusion, I'd say that school teaches everybody to think alike, whereas the road to success is paved with uniqueness of ideas and methods.

"The only thing that interferes with my learning is my education." Albert Einstein

What is school? As defined by www.dictionary.com: "an institution where instruction is given, especially to persons under college age". Every school follows its own protocol, values, dress code, etc. What is creativity then? "The ability to transcend traditional ideas, rules, patterns, relationships, or the like, and to create meaningful new ideas, forms, methods, interpretations", as defined by the same portal mentioned earlier. Creativity is about change and being different. However every schools’ protocol is about students wearing the same, and having the same set of values and virtues. Like how one who questions the beliefs of a particular religion is accused of blasphemy, and thus often keeps such views to oneself, students too learn, sometimes the hard way, that their views of how the ways of a school can be changed is often rebutted, unheeded, or in some serious cases, faced with disciplinary action. Thus by stamping down and weeding these "disobedient" thinking, growth in creativity is severely restricted by the school, and like how the proverbial grasshopper in the glass jar will never jump out of the jar even after the lid is removed, as it has tried countless times in vain and eventually takes it as an unchangeable fact, the heights of creativity will be reduced if repeatedly obstructed, and eventually thrown into disarray from lack of use, and hidden in the dark recesses of the mind, never to be used, for a primal, instinctive fear of punishment, to be felt long after one leaves the gallows of creativity

I think schools kill creativity because, for example, in my art class the teacher forces us to make something SHE says, not something we want and i think that is killing our creativity as it is stopping it from flowing.

Looking back, school, at a time, was a place where certain people would go when they wanted to learn certain skills. It was often for the well-off, while the poor stuck to their environment to learn and create.

School, at a time, was not something considered important. It was a secondary thing, for those who actually take interest in learning.

Now, however, most people believe that school is a necessity. The necessity comes from the parents wanting their children to have a fair shot at getting a job. Many would claim that the poor are disadvantaged because they can't afford school. And for some reason, it is now mandatory to go to school. So not only has school become a necessity, but you aren't even allowed to not go.

So school is no longer a place for learning things that you take interest in; it has become a mass-producing starter kit for corporate interests. All the kids going in NEED to go in so that they can work for some company and, basically, do nothing with their lives.

So what is the purpose of the art programs? The art programs do not boost creativity. Critical thinking and drugs do. Art programs teach us about how other people were once creative. In some ways, I'm glad that they've made it into the public schools, but at the same time, is it really making any difference? possibly. But it's only because children have to spend most of their lives in these schools. They're being forced, and if it were not for the art programs, they may end up being even more of a slave to societal standards (yet, at the same time, art is taught as high-brow, elitist propaganda instead of just encouraging kids to create, but hey... it's the Public Sector, what do you expect?)

So if the purpose of schools it make sure that our kids can get jobs, why bitch about a politician who wants to do away with the art programs? Because all you people just want government to give you everything.

None of this would be an issue if we completely dismantled the Public School system. But such drastic change is incalculable to you people (moderates).

I can't insist that not all school have bad influence to children creativity. But in in most cases school rules and strict regulations often kills in children ability to think in free way out of scope. Students used to be driven, to do what they make to do. Because of this they lose creativity

A lot of people do not like school because they would like to do other stuff like playing out side or drawing at home or spending quality time with there family like my brother and i

This is because the school is like an barrier that lock up our mind from only thinking inside a small place , not like the outside world which is big and vast

I agree that schools kill creativity. Schooling had become a mundane routine for all Singaporean youths long ago, and school is all about certifications and degrees of education. We learn how to attain these things in schools and not learn how to be flexible and be able to think out of the box. Therefore i agree that school skills creativity

Schools in this era are mostly textbook based learning.With the occasional non-textbook based projects, i do not feel that it is enough to allow the creative juices to continue to flow in our heads. Everything now looks planned for all the years to come and it looks pretty 'dead' in a sense that everyone is going through a routine all over and over again, knowing that studying is an important stepping stone to success in life. Thus, it doesn't look enticing enough for a child to explore and think creatively to make a certain topic look easy and manageable, they will probably feel that there are suppose to study this for the sake of studying. As years go by, water evaporates and creative juices dry up in us, killing creativity?

I agree that school kills creativity.

A quote by a renowned physicist cum public figure, Albert Einstein goes like this, "Education is what remains after one has forgotten what one has learned in school.“ As drastic as this comment might sound, in my opinion, it holds some truth.

Creativity, in layman's terms, is an ability possessed by all that walks which enables one to create. School on the other hand is an institution or a platform which bestows upon us knowledge and information that we need in the society. In my point of view, as far as schools are concerned, regulations and boundaries are always are never left out of the picture.

In view of boundaries ,for example, since the dawn of time when authority is present even among the simplest forms of creatures, taboo and boundaries are always present from both actions to communication. In schools, students are often if not always required or expected to pay attention to what they say and bring out in class discussions in the event that they crossed the line unknowingly. This in turn hampers our ability to think creatively to a large extent.

In view of regulations and in relation to the secondary school education system, students taking the GCE ‘O’ levels are required to choose 8 subjects in accordance to their preference and talents . This, despite hinting of some freedom and democracy is nothing but a farce as the subjects given for us to choose are limited and undoubtedly rigid and bland. In a lighter and metaphorical note, this is as if our education system is getting a fish to walk while its talents lies in the deep blue. Schools, which most if not all had succumbed to the requirements set by the society, had therefore managed to destroy our student’s interest in education and prevented them from using their creativity to the fullest.

In conclusion, school, which promotes free thinking and innovation, lacks substance to validate its purpose and in view of my current stand, instead hampers greatly our creativity.

I agree to a large extent school kills or inhibits creativity in students. This is largely attributed to the mentality of educators or people responsible for planning the curriculum. Many curriculum in the schools will rather stick to long held conventions or theories that is popular, disregarding new theories propose by the students. This can be largely attributed to the fear of failure and to be different. One example here would be the Mpemba's effect. Mpemba once studied in a secondary school in Tanzania. During one of the lessons, Mpemba observed that hot milk cool faster than cold milk when put into freezer at the same time. This clearly defied conventions and popular theories that long stood. Many labelled his eccentric theory as stupid and absurb. Even teachers in the school make fun of him. But this theory has indeed been proven true in many experiments. This shows that schools does indeed kills of creativity but putting down alternative theories bring up by the students. Their conservative mindsets and approach does indeed kills creativity. One analogy would be a ship. The ship will be safe if the captain decides to stay at the harbour. But by being creative you will need to step out of the comfort zone. Yes, i agree that you will face obstacles and challenges but obstacles and challenges can make you or break you. Same for the ship when the captain of the ship encounter storms or resistance, it will make him stronger to adapt to changes. Let me share with you a quote by James B. Stockdale, "A liberally educated person meets new ideas with curiosity and fascination. An illiberally educated person meets new ideas with fear." In this context, liberal means being open to new ideas and exploring them, while not being afraid of failing in the process.

In a rapidly changing world, illiberal education in schools does indeed kills creativity.

Although an education can further some people, it usually does kill other people's creativity. schools are set to specifiuc structures that the teachers must follow. Even in art and music classes, children are graded on how well they form to the set structure rather then on their abilities.

School in many ways have a holistic approach in our education, however, this approach only applies to a specific value in our learning progress and are not targeted in areas that requires creativity. The school only teaches things we should know and not things we must know which requires one to think from any imaginable aspects or perspectives. By this method, the "creativity juice" we once possessed would have dried up by the time we leave school, resulting in society that has no creativity due to schooling. Schools also ahere to strict rules and guidelines that are not flexible enough to target different students talents and creativity and unexpectedly, kill the talents and creativity

Since a long time ago, schools have strict rules for students to obey, like mandatory school uniforms and what they are going to learn in school. Today, things are still the same, and what we learn are mainly from the textbooks. With standardized learning, creativity is not needed. Students are only limited to doing their homework, study for examinations and studying everyday. Nothing requires creativity. Everybody follows the rules and goes by the book. Many had their creativity undiscovered because of this and thus, it cannot be shown and developed. To add on it, even if there's a case where creativity are needed, they are always deterred by things, like ideas getting rejected by teachers, and in some cases, teachers will end up doing things their own way, instead of allowing the students to let their creativity flow.

I agree that school kills creativity.

Sir Ken Robinson once said on a 2006 conference that the reason we do not get the best out of people is because we have been educated to become good workers, rather than creative thinkers. "Students with restless minds and bodies — far from being cultivated for their energy and curiosity — are ignored or even stigmatized, with terrible consequences. We are educating people out of their creativity,"

School is only focusing on strengthening the students' academic to prepare oneself to have a good job and a good future. Students are just studying to get good grades and are not able to use creativity and think of ways and solutions. Students these days are seen as wood blocks where they are not versatile in their thinking. To them, everything goes by the book. Students are not given enough for them to develop and use the creativity they have.

teachers are often undermine students in some activities. Parents are often opposed to children in the school develop their creativity, thinking that the school created just for studying.

I agree that school kills creativity.

“And we’re now running national education systems where mistakes are the worst thing you can make. And the result is that we are educating people out of their creative capacities. Picasso once said this. He said that all children are born artists. The problem is to remain an artist as we grow up. I believe this passionately, that we don’t grow into creativity, we grow out of it. Or rather, we get educated out if it.” This was what Sir Ken Robinson said during a conference.

The school does not help us to grow our creativity, but instead, limits it. The things that we learn in school are just the different subjects that we are, more or less, forced to learn. However, what if the student is interested in being a musician, but schools do not offer music as a subject? This will cause them to limit on their own creativity.

At the same time, i also agree that sometimes schools kill creativity. I had a primary school teacher, who just hated it when students did something out of the ordinary. She did not encourage thinking out of the box, but expected us to follow what she said 100%. I'm sure that she is not the only teacher like that, and that's why i think some people have agreed that schools kill creativity. Let's take our Social Studies source based questions for example. When a source is given, different people interpret it differently. So they answer questions according to their own creativity. However, the teachers who mark it do not accept several answers, saying that it does not make sense. Isn't this killing the students creativity? Same applies for literature. You can't possibly expect everyone to think the same way as you do. If you do so, it's preposterous.

I agree that school kills creativity as it has made students so study just based on reading the textbook, doing assignments and sometimes discussion. this will all create an environment where students arent able to stimulate creative thinking. A good example will be for many inventors, most of them has some or no education but because of this they have think of creative ways to make the world a better place.

I agree that school kills creativity. When students are given projects, some teachers want the end product to be what they wanted. Students are not given the opportunity to show their own creativity as they need to follow their teachers instructions. Moreover, many students study from the resources given to us like books and notes. How can we be creative if the resources given to us are the same? This means that during the exams everyone will be giving the same example and teachers would complain that students are not creative enough. Therefore, school kills creativity.

I agree that school kills creativity. This is because everybody in the school are taught the same thing so whatever they do and thinks are the same,this would lead to them not being able to have a mindset of their own and follow what others did before them and would not think of new and creative things to change what they are doing now as they are afraid that it would not be good enough to reach the expectations of the school and would not get a good grade.Therefore,I agree that school kills creativity.

I agreed to a large extent. School destroys the imaginations of the students. As the saying ,”Imagination is the beginning of creativity. You imagine what you desire, you will what you imagine and at last you create what you will.”, we must let our imaginations come to life to be creative. However, are we allow to write imaginative stories like vampire, alien and fairy in our writing? Mary Lou Cook once said,“Creativity is inventing, experimenting, growing, taking risks, breaking rules, making mistakes and having fun.” Since school has so many rules to follow, it simply restricts our freedoms to be creative. In addition, we are to study what have been invented, experimented and created so we are basically ‘acting’ creative. Some will say that students can be creative in their project work. However this is not entirely true. Even project work has its own rubrics and instructions for us to follow, thus we are not allow to do whatever we think might be interesting or creative. In conclusion, school kills creativity overtime.

i agree that schools kills creativity. nowadays,schools focuses mainly on tests, exams, experiments. these are insufficient to encourage students to think out of the box. people mostly memorise without understanding, thus unable to allow them to think creatively.

I agree school kills creativity. As children we were once full of questions, wondering why things happen. But as we grow up, the materials in school educates and teaches us things we have no prior knowledge of. School feeds us with the important information we need and therefore making us feel that holding on to that and that alone is enough to keep us alive anywhere else.

I agree that school kills creativity. True enough, school imbues us with vital knowledge that propels us through the path of success. I, however, feel that knowledge limits our minds to think out of the box but revolve around the same level of awareness that does not allow us to solve problems. Imagine an empty canvas placed in an art gallery, most people would just walk by indifferently. Seeing a work of art out of an empty canvas entails imagination, which is the beginning of creation. From George Bernard, “You imagine what you desire, you will what you imagine and at last you create what you will.” Hence, I agree school kills creativity.