Writer's block and our Education System

          I've been thinking for the last 7 days about what to write for my next blog entry. Every time I'd sit in front of my laptop and wonder - "What should I write about next?" Analysing my state of mind this morning my situation appeared to be a case of mild "writer's block" and thus, after a lot of "soch-vichar", the reason was clear. 

          I'd been thinking too much about what people want to read rather than what I want to write about. To hell if its not interesting enough. After all, if you are reading this, it means that there has to be something interesting about a guy ranting on and on about his problems and not getting to the point. So finally, after 7 days and a spark of insight I found something truly worth writing about, which gets me to the crux of this story.

          And the point, I realize, is this:

          Consider your average school classroom. Now imagine a 12 year old in it. Its the day of the dreaded English exam and the task at hand is to write an essay on some absurd topic (at least for a 12 year old) like "Global Warming" and given the time constraints, must be finished in 30 minutes flat.

          Some may argue that this is a fair test of one's writing abilities. After all, in the words of Bill Gates - "Life is not fair. Get used to it." After all testing should be all about taking a person out of their comfort zone and putting them in a high pressure atmosphere. In today's highly competitive world, it seems like a fair assertion.

          However, I beg to differ. As any professional writer (and amateur blogger like myself) would tell you, there's more to writing than just putting together a string of words together in a grammatically correct manner to constitute a sentence. It is a passion that comes from within us, a spark, an idea, an emotion, words being but a medium for the same.

          Now consider another scenario. Imagine a world where today's slaves to textbooks (read: students) are given the freedom to write about anything that interests them. Not surprisingly, we may end up with a whole lot of essays about the exploits of Superman, Hot Wheels cars or whatever the latest fad may be. But remember, this is the kids expressing themselves in the way they like to be seen in. And isn't that the very purpose why yesterday's cavemen came up with language in the first place?

          
          The process doesn't have to end there either. Let's take it a step further. There is a saying that "Small minds discuss people, average minds discuss events, great minds discuss ideas." The internet gives these kids a fabulous medium to share these diverse thoughts and interests with the rest of the world and most importantly, with their own peers. This will give kids a way of transforming into great minds (like this guy on the right) and rise beyond the ordinary.

          With that I rest my case . Educators, the ball is in your court now...