In today's society it is not a hidden fact that money has become a problem. This problem has led to budget cuts everywhere including the education systems. This is a huge problem because when you cut the funding for schools, the first things that are cut are the extra classes that are not mandatory by law, such as "Specials". Specials are the classes such as music, gym and art. By cutting these classes out of the curriculum we are harming our students. Not only are these the classes that the students look forward to the most but they are also very beneficial to them as well.
Art classes are one of the first "Speicals" to go when a budget crisis arises, especially at the elementary level. What people do not realize is that when these art classes are eleminated from the schools we are robbing the students of something very valuable. Art is a way that children express themselves. It is a creative outlet for them and for many young students art class is their only outlet they have in school. When we take art classes out of school we are significantly limitingthe creativeness of our students. If they do not have the opportunitiy to have a time and place to be creative they will eventually lose that desire to even try to be creative and this can be harmful later on in their schooling and life. Keeping art classes in schools even during budget crunches is a necessary thing in order for our students to become well rounded and creative people in our future society.
You gotta have art! (An old slogan of the Detroit Institute of Arts)
ReplyDeleteRachel, do you think people believe this? If not, how do you convince them?
I agree that art should not be cut in schools. After all you can find way to create really cheap art projects. Another important factor that you started to go into is that art can be used as a way to allow the students to get away for a little bit, and go to their happy place. Some people use art (such as drawing, painting ect.) as a stress reliever. These people often recognize this way of relief at a fairly young age and then use it throughout their whole life. If students don’t have art classes it will be much harder for them to recognize what it can do for them. About.com gives a excellent article about how and in which ways art works as a stress reliever. http://stress.about.com/od/funandgames/a/learningtodraw.htm
ReplyDeleteI agree that we are robbing students from taking away any of their specials. i have been to many different schools in the South Bend area and there are some schools that have specials, some that have this one and not that one, and some that completely cut them out of the school day. You can definitely tell the difference in the way the students behave when they either have specials or do not. Specials are a way to do something different, other than sitting at their desk in their classroom. I think that mixing up the day not only passes the time for the students, but also gets them interested because they start to realize that if they work hard for this amount of time, they get to go let off some well needed stress( if elementary students have stress) and go do something productive, but enjoyable.
ReplyDeleteI was always one in elementary school that dreaded going to art. I didn't think I was good at it, I didn't find it appealing, and most of all, I thought my teacher was boring. It was not until I took an art class my freshman year of high school, that I really liked art. I never realized that taking pictures, or painting a picture of nothing could be so relaxing, and a big stress reliever. I definitely think that art should stay in schools, because it allows children to express themselves. They may not like gym or music, therefore they will have art. It could be vice versa with any of the above "specials," therefore I think that they should still be kept in elementary schools.
ReplyDeleteI think that art defines a culture. If you don't allow dabbling in the arts, how will you show how you view your world?
ReplyDeleteImagine how the world would look without color, in grayscale. That is how I imagine going through school without the opportunity to express yourself, whether or not you believe you have a particular talent.
Who says you have to stay within the lines provided by a coloring book? Imagine the world without the Andy Warhols, the sculptors and the designers of clothing and of architecture. The world would be stagnant.
Keep art programs alive in the schools!