Your Education Has Failed You

The United States education system is as effective as a car with square tires. I have experienced it first hand; the American education system is outdated and no longer maximizes society’s potential on all aspects of knowledge. Based on Sir Ken Robinson’s idea that “schools kill creativity”, there is evidence that our nation’s education system forces its students to excel in certain departments while suppressing the progression in other subjects.

Growing up, students are put into desks and forced to conform to the rest of the classroom. Research has revealed that a clear hierarchy exists in global education: language and mathematics, humanities, then the arts. There might have been programs that teach dance to older students, but this growth stops at a young age. Similarly, I took an art class that met two times a month until fifth grade when I was no longer learning about the subject. Unlike these classes of expression in art and dance, every student learns English, math, and science daily. This exemplifies the neglect of art in our lives and the principle is rooted long before current generations.

Our modern education system is as old as the industrial revolution. Older than the 19th century, the schooling structure has been intended to create factory workers that did not need to dance, sing, or draw. Removing these forms of expression have two consequences. Not only are kids that thrive in the arts now discouraged, but gifted learners are less likely to enter a field that is not supported by their education. The subsequent effect is that this outlet for expression never had the supply of artists that it demanded.

The cost of an education is high. A lot of funding goes toward the Department of Education, yet countless Americans go into debt by attending a four year university. The focus here is to look at how certain subjects are never developed because they do not create high revenue occupations. People are molded into the curriculum they are taught and if students do not fit successfully, they fail. The consequences of our outdated curriculums and subject hierarchy has led to millions of Americans in debt without a well rounded education. Not only this, but the arts are not thoroughly understood and a lack of creativity exists.

Average people never grow to have this form of communication and it shows. Countless Americans are selfish and have a greed for money; I can only imagine if they experienced the emotional articulation involved in developing a love for art. There will always be exceptions to this, but to the general public: you have been robbed of your fullest potential.