Are art teachers freaking out the kidz?

Breaking yet another, actually two of the seven deadly sins of blogging, again... Here are a few sketches from today's killer cat drawing session with the nipper, who's learning to recognise shapes and words (eyes, legs, ears etc), to put pen to paper in the right (and wrong - see below) places, and to keep her crayons* within the lines. Posing a few questions I'm not one hundred percent sure I know the right answer to, from a responsible parenting point-of-view at least. *Medium un-specific - note the use of felt tip on paper in these works.

Drawing in the lines vs outside the lines: Is teaching children to draw within the lines stifling creativity, or just a natural process? Nuture vs. Nature etc. Can you force creativity? Should you force it? I'm thinking inside vs. outside-the-line / outside-the-box or wild-sky-thinking ---> whatever the latest buzz word is. It's all just a big bunch of stinking cods-wallop anyway. I'm sitting on the wall, with my spray can at the ready and just letting this creative river flow baby.

I'm loving the slightly in and slightly out the line thinking in these sketches, and her interpretation of the subject matter works on so many different levels. The best part is when her drawing extends off-the-canvas on to her hands, face, legs, clothes, me, my hands, my arms and my clothes. Is this an early sign of my child understanding the concept of trompe-l'œil? Is she the next (she) Banksy, or should she/I be locked away with the Prinzhorn Collection?

Freaking out the kidz: I just can't help but sketch outlines of freaky scary killer animals for the litte-un to fill in/out. Is she actually trying to scribble the scary monsters out of existence, or is she just following nature innocently? Parenting is all about protecting innocent minds? Well I'm not so sure and anyway what harm can it possibly do. Compared to the above line dancing issue, it's by far the lesser of two very evil cats and surely the toughest cat gets the cream.

Are these drawings or my approach to teaching art worrying you? I welcome the opinion of a qualified child art critic or a psychiatrist. Right she's woken up from her afternoon nap. Time to go throw bread at the ducks and stamp on mole hills in the park.