Creativity and mental health are some of the most important aspects of a teenager’s life that are instilled and taught since birth. This important development skill is often overlooked and a common misconception is that creativity is for artists only. But that couldn’t be further from the truth.
The brain is trained to be creative even in the smallest ways. Creativity is an important skill to develop from a young age, and necessary for the development and problem-solving skills. The brain grows and strengthens as a result of experience.
Creativity engages the mind
Partaking in any activity engages the mind from a very young age. Therefore the importance to play, interacting, having conversations, expressing ourselves through crying, and tantrums teach us different coping mechanisms. Every baby quickly learns that certain behaviors have different actions and reactions from different people and then uses these behaviors in creative ways to get attention.
Challenges teens face.
Being a teenager is one of the most difficult challenges in today’s world. The pressure of the media, unrealistic role models, and discovering who you are as a person with the world’s judgment at your feet, is a major challenge in itself. This is whilst dealing with hormonal changes, finding yourself in this world, gaining weight, low self-esteem, bullying, and depression. These are real challenges our teenagers are faced daily.
How do I help my teenager cope with all the pressure of the outside world?
A lot has changed since my parents were teenagers. The peer pressure, standards in schools, socializing, and even trying out for the hockey or rugby team have some stigma around them. But one thing that hasn’t changed is leading by example.
If you had a passion for math, painting, drawing, garden work, swimming, or even a technique you used to study, these are the types of methods we need to share with teenagers.
Although you know that your way of doing something might be thought of as old fashioned and they probably won’t use it. But something they can do is think about your methods and incorporate them in their own way or add something to enable them to be creative about a situation.
When teenagers are engaging in an activity with creativity, teenagers are not passively listening/absorbing, but they are exploring, discovering something new, and communicating through this activity without saying much. Creativity can connect reflection with action.
Just like reading a story to a toddler before bed will engage their mind in magical non-existing places, the same creativity comes to play when a teenager reads a book. For some, reading is an escape and for others, partaking in sports is their escape route. Creativity enables alternative ways of thinking and ultimately, creativity is the ability to free your mind to create, interpret and visualize possibilities.
