Only 39% of California Students Are Enrolled in Arts Education.

Major Societal Issues

Affecting Children And Adults in the U.S.

The Creativity Crisis

Affecting Children And Adults in the U.S.

Since 1990s, the Creativity Crisis in America has progressively grown worse. In addition, “…the results also reveal that the youngest age groups (5 and 6-year-olds) suffered the greatest. The significant declines in outbox thinking skills (fluid and original thinking) indicate that Americans generate not only fewer ideas or solutions to open-ended questions or challenges, but also fewer unusual or unique ideas than those in preceding decades” (Source). See Figure 1.

In a 2011 research study by Kyung Hee Kim of the School of Education at the College of William and Mary, “…results indicate creative thinking is declining over time among Americans of all ages, especially in kindergarten through third grade. The decline is steady and persistent, from 1990 to present.... The decline begins in young children, which is especially concerning as it stunts abilities which are supposed to mature over a lifetime” (Source). In this study, Kim said that “creativity scores are also declining because our society is less and less receptive and encouraging of creativity, creative people, and creative ideas. Americans are less motivated to be creative because creativity is continually less valued by home, school, and society overall in the U.S. It stands to reason that this problem will compound, as we keep producing citizens who tend to be even less tolerant of creative people and of creative expression” (Source).

Concurrently in a “…longitudinal test of creative potential, a NASA study found that of 1,600 4- and 5-year-olds, 98 percent scored at ‘creative genius’ level. Five years later, only 30 percent of the same group of children scored at the same level, and again, five years later, only 12 percent. When the same test was administered to adults, it was found that only two percent scored at this genius level…. According to the study, our creativity is drained by our education. As we learn to excel at convergent thinking -- or the ability to focus and hone our thoughts -- we squash our instinct for divergent, or generative, thought. The 5-year-old in us never goes away, though” (Source). See Figure 2.

How IT’s Connected

• “According to the psychologist Peter Gray, children today are more depressed than they were during the Great Depression and more anxious than they were at the height of the Cold War. A 2019 study published in the Journal of Abnormal Psychology found that between 2009 and 2017, rates of depression rose by more than 60 percent among those ages 14 to 17, and 47 percent among those ages 12 to 13.” (Source)

• “The average [US] tween (ages 8–12) looks at a screen roughly 4.75 hours a day and the average teen, ~7.4 hours. That’s not counting homework/school.” (Source)

• Screen time might be physically changing kids’ brains. Lots of time in front of screens is linked with lower levels of language and literacy skills. (Source)

• “Our children are overstimulated, over-scheduled and under pressure to perform academically and beyond school. This diminishes their ability to build creative thinking skills essential to self-discovery. Inventiveness occurs when kids have time for curiosity and exploration. With children spending up to eight hours a day on media devices and additional hours engaging in scheduled activities, opportunities for growth are stifled.” (Source)

• “To make art is to make choices; to make choices necessitates paying attention to our inner selves as we assess which elements do and do not please us. Not only are we tuning in to ourselves when we create art, but we also are expressing ourselves by making an external representation of our internal world. In doing so, we are acting upon a healthy belief that what is inside of us is worthy of taking up space and being seen by others.” (Source)

• “Connection through art can overcome that isolation. When we show others our art, we are showing them ourselves. They may share with us how our art makes them feel; they may inquire how we became inspired to create our work. A dialogue is opened.” (Source)

• “Creativity induces positive health effects, including on the heart. In a recent study, researchers provided almost forty people with art supplies such as markers and paper, and told them to create anything they wanted over a period of 45 minutes. The scientists discovered that no matter the artistic experience of the participants, about 75 percent experienced a decrease in their levels of cortisol, a hormone that the body secretes to respond to stress. ‘Everyone is creative and can be expressive in the visual arts when working in a supportive setting,’ explained one of the researchers.” (Source)

• “Art and music programs help keep [children] in school, make them more committed, enhance collaboration, strengthen ties to the community and to peers, improve motor and spatial and language skills. At-risk students who take art are significantly more likely to stay in school and ultimately to get college degrees.  A study by the College Board showed that students who took four years of art scored 91 points better on the SAT exams (Hawkins, 2012).” (Source)

The California Crisis

Since budget cuts have squeezed art programs out of most public school systems, the negative impact on our youth has been well documented. Even with efforts to expand art education from organizations like Create CA, the number of students who participate in the arts has only increased from 38 to 39 percent.

72%

of business leaders say that creativity is the #1 skill they’re seeking

441:1

the student-to-arts-teacher ratio in California

Why Focus on Kids

Children get educated out of creativity. And they are our future.

One study showed that kids’ natural tendency to daydream and wonder declines sharply around 4th grade (Source). And “at around about the age of five, we are using about 80% of our creative potential.” (Source)

“Kids don’t worry about whether they’re wrong. They bravely forge into new territory, willing to, and assuming they will, often be wrong. However, as we mature, we quickly learn that being wrong often has negative consequences. At school, we’re penalized for being wrong. At work, we’re penalized for being wrong. According to Sir Ken Robinson, an expert in creativity, “If you’re not prepared to be wrong, you’ll never come up with anything original. Since creativity inherently requires a willingness to possibly be wrong, we begin to avoid it. For many of us, we become so good at avoiding it that we convince ourselves we’re “not creative.” In addition, many factors that seem related to the self-controlled aspect of ourselves—like research, facts, or being grounded in reality—feel like they’re helping us mitigate the risk of being wrong. So we rely more and more on our executive function skills and behaviors, and less and less on our imaginative behaviors” (Source).

“Research suggests that whatever nonconformist tendencies we may have as children are often driven out of us by the rote learning and direct instruction utilized in schools, which may counteract our more exploratory and creative modes of thinking and learning.’ In fact, ‘Kaufman and Gregoire write, ‘teachers have been found to display a clear preference for students who show less creativity’” (Source).

“Arts education boosts school attendance, academic achievement, and college attendance rates; improves school climate; and promotes higher self-esteem and social-emotional development…. In addition, proficiency in the technology related to creative work is becoming an important skill for students as they progress into college and career” (Source).

Our children are the future. If we can help children fearlessly explore their creativity a little longer, we should as exercising divergent thinking is necessary for creating more innovative adults with great problem-solving techniques.

Moreover, creative arts can help children develop a sense of self-awareness and self-love, which are the basis for change, in addition to a greater sense of self-worth and accomplishment.

How Give Kids Art Helps

Our programs focus on delivering creative, process-based art activities. Our sessions range 60-90 minutes weekly and include a fun warm-up exercise, an art-making activity, the opportunity to present and share, and key takeaways to carry throughout the week. Our programs are unique in that we strategically outline a curriculum that not only exposes participants to various visual arts mediums, but also incorporates different creative arts modalities, such as theater and movement during our warm-up, in addition to exploring visual arts.

Multiple studies have revealed that students who were given the opportunity to participate in programs like GIVE KIDS ART witnessed an overall increase in math and reading scores. There is further evidence that schools with arts programs do better on standardized test scores and have an increased ability to solve problems, empathize with others, and a greater capacity for memory, attention, comprehension and overall success, self worth and joy in later life.

These positive benefits are also seen in adults. The National Endowment for the Arts Studies released research from the University of Michigan, that “older adults who both created art and attended arts events reported higher cognitive functioning and lower rates  of both hypertension and limitations to their physical functioning than did adults who neither created nor attended art.”

With that said, art allows us to reach into our uninhibited inner child, experience freedom and enhanced creativity, performance, and feelings of well being, fun and joy.