It's odd, isn't it? We know all too well that too much screen time scrambles brains—kids’ and adults' alike. Yet here we are, with schools gleefully pushing coding and computer programs as the ultimate brain-boosters. Five-year-olds, who should be tangling their hands in clay or crayons, are glued to tablets, learning to read and count through pixelated screens instead of more hands-on, brain-sparking methods. The tech world might mean well with its flashy promises of educational revolution, but is this really the way? Reform is overdue, but is the digital highway the only road we can take? Or could we perhaps… rethink the entire system with a fresh set of values?

Arts and culture programs are being gutted, cast off as "extra," “non-essential,” or, dare I say, "frivolous." But that’s by design. The current system seems built to produce convenient adults—those who don’t question too much, aren’t overly curious, or challenging.

There's a quote often attributed to John D. Rockefeller, basically the godfather of public education in America, that states: "I don’t want a nation of thinkers—I want a nation of workers." Whether or not he actually said these words, his actions and policies certainly supported this sentiment. Rockefeller's advisor, Frederick Taylor Gates, who was involved with the General Education Board, expressed similar views in his 1916 book, The Country School of Tomorrow. He wrote, “We shall not try to make these people or any of their children into philosophers or men of learning, or men of science. We have not to raise up from among them authors, editors, poets or men of letters. We shall not search for […] great artists, painters, musicians nor lawyers, doctors, preachers, politicians, statesmen, of whom we have an ample supply… The task we set before ourselves is very simple as well as a very beautiful one, to train these people as we find them to a perfectly ideal life just where they are…” Translation: keep the masses compliant, keep the system in check.

Sound familiar? It should. These roots run deep. The system isn’t designed to encourage critical thought, creativity, or intellectual rebellion. Instead, it’s all about following the script—rote memorization, standardized tests, compliance at every turn.

Yet here’s the kicker: Creativity is part of our nature, and it feels like it's being suffocated. A NASA study shows that at age five, a whopping 98% of children score at "creative genius" levels. By age ten, that number falls to 30%. And by 15? It nose-dives to a measly 12%. Adults? A sad 2%. How’s that for a creativity crisis?

On the other side we have peope like Noam Chomsky, advocating for building "intellectual self-defense," and emphasizing the importance of robust thinking. He believes that education should be about fostering curiosity, critical thinking, and the ability to question and challenge. Contrast that with today’s emphasis on conformity and standardized testing. Creative thinking involves coming up with new ideas and solutions by looking at things differently. Examples include brainstorming, generating multiple possibilities, or combining existing ideas in novel ways and pushing boundaries. Encouraging creative thinking is one of the core values of a humanities curriculum. George Land, in his TEDxTucson talk, split thinking into two camps: divergent (think wild imagination) and convergent (judgment and evaluation). Although both exist in the traditional school system... guess which one thrives in schools? Spoiler alert: it's not the one that encourages original ideas.

No matter how trite it sounds: our kids are going to shape the future. So how we choose to educate them now matters. It should matter because it will affect them obviously, but in the end it will affect the course our world take. Education should be a joyful, wild, expansive adventure—full of questioning and wonder, where ideas can originate rather than just be redeployed.

In the end, tech initiatives aren’t the enemy, but I think we need to think of what in essence needs to be reformed. We can't lose sight of the importance of creativity and the arts in fostering well-rounded, intelligent, and curious individuals. We need music, arts, and culture—not as “extras” but as essentials. It’s not about tossing out the tablets completely but balancing them with the things that make us fully human—imagination, creativity, and curiosity. The ultimate goal? A full-blown educational overhaul... but in the meantime, let’s nurture our kids’ inner Philomaths while tending to our own neglected creative spirits. Let’s invite more divergent thinking into the mix!

And hey, I'd love to hear your thoughts on all this. How do you think we can nudge the system in a better direction?