This text is part of the special Youth Culture section
For children, being in contact with art and feeling its benefits begins with the unexpected and discovery.
How do pottery, drawing, dance, theater or music allow children not only to express themselves, but also to be moved and flourish? In contact with clay or the stage, the brush or the piano, the neurons of the brain are stimulated, the imagination flourishes and wonder, in front of a spectacle for example, promotes empathy as much as curiosity. Not to mention the beneficial escape from everyday life.
Faced with such a long list of benefits, why is it that arts and culture still have difficulty finding their way into school curricula? That visual arts premises, as well as libraries, are often sacrificed for lack of space? A restrictive vision of school, that of a place where one must first learn to read, write and count, undoubtedly triumphs too often, and yet…
“That a child can manipulate, build and maintain their ability to play with matter is fundamental,” says Pierre Plante, professor of psychology at the University of Quebec in Montreal (UQAM). For those who believe that DIY and other artistic practices accessible to children are a waste of time and will be of no use once the children are grown up, his answer is already ready. “A doctor must grasp the three-dimensional representation of the human body. Manipulating clay or blocks promotes this ability, not to mention that all the senses are used; it is also just as beneficial for future engineers or future architects. How can you develop three-dimensional thinking while constantly looking at a tablet? »
This tyranny of screens worries this researcher who is also interested in art therapy, hence the importance of offering “spaces of freedom, of exploration, where children escape the pressure of “doing well”. ””. Furthermore, being subject to “the clock and competition” does not promote “self-expression, the affirmation of one’s uniqueness and one’s perception of life.” So many things that ChatGPT cannot do for a child.
Room for spontaneity
“Are you correct?” » “I do you have the right? »Less than ten years ago, author and cartoonist Tristan Demers never heard these questions from children, he who has been in schools for more than 30 years. The creator of the famous character Gargoyle sees many changes in the behavior of the students he meets in his workshops. These observations are recorded in an essay published in 2018, Imagination in disarray. When our children no longer know how to invent (Editions de l’Homme).
In this work, the findings of which have lost none of their relevance, Tristan Demers also advocates a return to free play, spontaneity… and boredom – all this as far as possible away from screens. “The least we can say is that the children are not abandoned,” laments the designer. From daycare, they are aware that their macaroni necklace will be on social networks, approved, judged or disowned by people they don’t know. This is why they have difficulty dealing with the unexpected, believing that their drawing is incorrect if it does not correspond to their initial vision. »
The reduction in human interaction among children and adolescents, well hidden behind their tablet or phone, should not only be of concern to parents and teachers, but to society as a whole. “I see it when I invite students to make a comic strip: they often have difficulty writing dialogue,” laments Tristan Demers. On the other hand, when the winning conditions are met to make creativity flourish, the results can be astonishing. “A teacher told me that one of her students hated writing, but that comics had completely changed his relationship with writing, [il était] proud to make his character speak. »
Pierre Plante and Tristan Demers make no secret of it: they dream of a society where imagination would truly be in power, distilling its benefits everywhere, particularly among young people. “Science answers many questions, but there is only art and culture to help us address great losses and the fear of death,” underlines the psychology professor. “Some schools offer… lively recess,” says the creator of Gargoyle indignantly. Can we give the children 15 minutes to look at the clouds and reinvent them as sheep or dragons? »
This content was produced by the Special Publications team at Duty, relating to marketing. The writing of the Duty did not take part.