“Creativity is an area in which younger people have a tremendous advantage, since they have an endearing habit of always questioning past wisdom and authority.”  

Bill Hewlett

It’s our Creativity and Innovation Month and we are super excited to share some of very inspiring stories with you of children and youths who are using their talents and skills to make an impact. RAVE has also decided to dedicate this month to celebrating Young Creators & Innovators.

Thanks to social media, a host of youngsters have contributed to providing a palliative for depression and some other mental health issues through comedy (laughter is the best medicine), music, dance and other forms of entertainment. The comic relief the likes of Emmanuella, Lasisi Elenu, Trevor Noah, Kenny Blaq bring can literarily be lifesavers. And when you need inspiration Kingnah and Prince Ea come with wisdom well above their years. And it’s not just about entertainment. It takes sheer ingenuity to come up with a method for powering a generator with urine or using cartons and other scraps to build a generator. Just imagine what this could do to solve power issues in developing nations.

Every human being is born with creativity. What makes the difference is first being vulnerable enough to do something about the idea; then the commitment to develop it and finally the courage to express it. The barrage of “what if…”, ”What would happen when…” questions we get from our children is an indicator that they have curious minds and very vibrant imaginations – two vital ingredients for creativity and innovation.

The world thrives on creativity and out-of-the-box thinking or how else can one explain the concept of driverless cars (I’m still trying to wrap my head around that)? Things are changing fast and for our children to thrive and succeed in this age, they must develop strong critical thinking skills and ability to think outside the box. I believe the youngsters don’t really have a problem letting their imagination run wild and as parents, our role should be to guide not stifle. I must admit that this is easier said than done especially when we sense danger or “failure” ahead. Our first instinct would be to kill the idea before it can even take root. Of course, where there is a real danger in view it would be irresponsible to encourage such an idea. The challenge for us parents is to honestly appraise why we are reluctant to encourage our children’s dreams, ideas or talents. Is it FEAR? Fear that our children have not “perfected” the idea and may end up embarrassing themselves and us? Fear of what our family, friends or religious leaders would think? These are questions that only you can answer truthfully.

My only hope is that we would not let our fears, inhibitions and over-protectiveness rob our children of the opportunity to express who he/she was created to be, the sense of fulfillment that comes with it and the cool cash they could also make and may we not deprive the world of the solutions our children can provide.

As we encourage them to excel in their academics, let’s also be deliberate about nurturing their creative side. As Sir Ken Robinson said, “Creativity is just as important as literacy”. I definitely agree! After all, what is the essence of attaining such academic heights and having a head full of knowledge that cannot be applied to solve life’s problems?

Oh and just in case you have some ideas or talents you’re yet to embrace and unveil – it’s never too late. Go for it…What’s the worst that could happen? I find these words by Sara Blakely founder of Spanx to be the motivation I need whenever I find myself stalling.

Carpe Diem!

RAVE Et Al works with parents, schools and government by providing relevant capacity building programs for children/teens and young adults in the area of values, life skills and digital citizenship education. Our programs equip the younger generation to stay safe and thrive in the real world – offline and online.  For further enquiries please send a mail to info@rave-etal.com or call +2348093159966 or visit www.rave-etal.com.