Importance Placed On Math and Science Detrimental to Artsy Students

From kindergarten to high school, students are required to take multiple math and science classes. While these courses are important, students should equally be required to take art, music and dance classes. Studies have shown that some people use the logical, left side of their brain, whereas others use the right side of their brain, which is more creative. In order to cater to both sets of students, the same value should be set on artful classes as much as they are on logic classes.

Since early civilization, societies have functioned because there were a variety of different occupations, such as writers, welders, mathematicians, scientists and so on. Because the range of jobs needed for a functioning society is so broad, high school classes should require classes that cater to students that will fill the more creative jobs in the workforce. If classes such as painting, ballet, singing or band were treated as if they were just as important as math and science courses, they would become as important.

Not only would these subjects gain importance, students who are not logically inclined wouldn’t feel dumb or slow for not understanding their math and science courses as much as they understood their art courses. Students often give up on trying to understand math and science because it doesn’t come naturally to them. Although they should still be trying, it’s not fair that students who are not creatively inclined don’t have to struggle the same way in right brain oriented classes because logical classes are ‘more important’.

Placing the same amount of value on both sets of classes will also create a balance.  Even if a student feels that a type of class comes more naturally to them, they can still learn other types of courses just to become more well rounded. A random dancer on the street can most likely do a basic mathematical equation, but an average mathematician probably can’t name the five positions in ballet. It isn’t necessary in either of those professions to know these things, but it does seem unbalanced that the artist is educated in both math and dance, but not the other way around.

As of now, math and science are required in OPS until you’ve gotten enough credits in the subject to graduate. And although artistic classes such as music and art are offered, they are merely electives rather than mandatory. If these classes were to be treated the same, the idea of what ‘smart’ looks like wouldn’t just be a student that is good in math and science, but also good in the arts.