Letters to the Editor: creativity, killed by educational standards
November 2, 2016
Dear Editor,
The argument that public schools and standardized testing are shoving students in a box has been discussed increasingly throughout the years. However, public school is the minimum amount of knowledge people need to fit into society and SOLs are the lowest standard of learning to determine whether a student understood the course. Creativity is very important; however, students need to have a broad base that they can build on. People cannot be an architect or designer without having an expert understanding of math. Public school gives students a base which they build on through experiences after graduation. If students wish to take a more creative approach to their life they can study the arts in college after high school.
~junior Jeanine Seaman
Dear Editor,
I completely agree with this article about the education system killing creativity. Throughout the article, Sir Ken Robinson was mentioned. I have watched several of his Ted Talks and no he addresses this problem as mentioned. At the end, the article talked about Robinson’s idea of schools being like factories, I completely agree. The school system is like a factory, a cookie cutter machine and when one kid doesn’t fit into the cutter they squeeze and rearrange him until he does fit. They want everyone to be the exact same. That’s why all the testing is the same and they expect everyone to be able to do the same, even though not everyone learns the same. Therefore, killing creativity and abstract thinking. I love that this article was written. It brings a light to the problem. Thank you!
~junior Lily Foster
Dear Editor,
Although the point that has made is accurate, the ability to promote and incubate creativity is not a measurement for the quality of a school. If a student wants to be creative, they can choose an elective that fits their interests. However, creativity should not be a main focus in classrooms of the core subjects. There are very few people who will ever find success in their creativity. The key to success in the modern world is the ability to perform under various pressure situations. The likelihood of creative success dies with the rapid population growth. Too many ideas have already been thought of for it to be practical to find success with another world changing idea. The way to succeed in today’s world is to know how to implicate those ideas. Colleges seek out students with high grade point averages and test scores because these students are proven to be able to perform in the pressure cooker that is the high school classroom. Schools should focus on testing children in their ability to apply themselves in stressful situations because that is what will lead students to success, creativity is no longer relevant in this technology driven world.
~junior Bryon Toner
Dear Editor,
The way students are being taught does not correlate to divergent thinking and creativity. Ever since a very young age students have been taught to color inside the lines and not to think outside the box. Instead of leisure time that allows for imagination, students are bombarded with hours of homework. On a personal note, I am currently in 5 AP classes. All I do when I get home from school is read out of textbooks and fill out worksheets. It is impossible to get a good night’s sleep or have a decent social life. While systematically reading page after page and filling out worksheet after worksheet, I never think creatively. All of my work is busy work, and it takes me hours to do it. The AP curriculum covers so much content that creativity is put on the back burner. Even though society’s knowledge is increasing, creativity is not.
~junior Leah Crouse