The Importance of Art
"Tax dollars should not be wasted on art, music, or theater classes in high school. Public high schools should be about training young people to enter the work force. Period."
This is a quote that we were given, and told to give our opinion on. Well, I have some choice words to say about this. But before I argue my point, I want to ask you this question. What is art to you?
This can go many ways, but generally speaking, art is a medium of expressing an idea or belief in ways that satisfy our natural senses (sight, ears, etc.) yet still conveying meaning in an impactful way. Or at least, that's how I define it.
So with that being said, why do people want art to disappear from public high schools? They argue that art is useless and that we should spend our time taking more academic classes. And while yes, academic classes are very important for the success of students, I don't think the people making these claims about art classes are seeing this the right way.
To anyone who agrees with this quote, while you opinion is respected here, let me ask you this. Why is art, music, and theater useless. What evidence points to these classed wasting tax money? Did you base you opinion on fact and a genuine sense of concern for the education system?
Or did you agree with this statement because corners were able to be cut, and you just assumed that art wasn't necessary because it's not an academic class?
If you are part of the ladder, I want you to stop and seriously consider your viewpoint. You are asking us to abandon art. To abandon music and theater. To take these classes based on concepts that are often praised for changing the world and humanity for the better, and to just throw them out because they aren't mathematics or biology.
Think about it. These classes are capable of bringing out the best from people. Students who felt out of place or lost have found that they can put their abilities to the fullest with these classes. These classes have allowed people to find their calling.
But let's stop for a second and say that all classes involving music, teaching painting, and staging performances were done away with, and we're left with only academic courses. What do we have then?
Well, now everybody is focusing more on their required classes. And some of these students seem to be really talented. Maybe they can enroll in a class that allows them to express those smart ideas of theirs, like theater- Oh wait. We just through out that class. Well, how about photography- no we don't have that anymore either.
You see the issue here? Sure, it may look as though I'm just cherry picking examples, but consider how many classes involve art in some way. Not just painting and theater here. We're also talking about media management, web design, photography, graphic design, architecture, technical design, I could go on.
Now that you've read this far, go back and look at that quote at the top. for the people who agreed with this quote at the beginning, how do you feel about it now? Does the person saying seem like they really did their research? Like they considered how their vision would impact the thousands of students taking these classes.
If you ask me, no. They did not consider the students. They did not do their research. They did not want anything other than to cut corners at what they saw as a useless set of classes.
Well let me be the first t say that there're no corners that can be cut here. Art, music, theater is important for the expression of students. For the success of future leaders. For the sense of culture and entertainment that these classes can bring. And you just can't go about and take that away from us.
It is not you right.
Period.
P.S. here's a source that can give you a fair bit of information about why we should keep art classes in public high schools. Hope this can convince you if I haven't.
Comments
Post a Comment