Diversity
"Human communities depend upon a diversity of talent, not a singular conception of ability."
-Sir Ken Robinson What we see today, from electronics, technology, healthcare, to art and entertainment, are all dependent on the successes of different people with different expertise. Not just one type of people who are good at one type of stuff. So why are we defining success as the STEM subjects and Language and a college degree? Success should come in many forms - if they weren't, our world would be a lot less exciting, and a lot more primitive than the glittering metropolis that we call "home" today. "So I say: let’s scrap Algebra for them and teach them some tangible skills (like we did in the system before it was labeled as a “failure”). Let’s get them out there making a living for themselves, rather than spending another $10,000 in tax money to pay for another year of school for them to learn how to factor trinomials, which they won’t. Why Not get them into the economy?"
-Joshua Katz So why are we still doing this? It is a waste of money and it is a waste of talent. If we let these gifts flourish, we would have a much better world - a world just like this, but ten times better. "Every education system on Earth has the same hierarchy of subjects. Every one. Doesn't matter where you go. You'd think it would be otherwise, but it isn't. At the top are mathematics and languages, then the humanities, and at the bottom are the arts. Everywhere on Earth. And in pretty much every system too, there's a hierarchy within the arts. Art and music are normally given a higher status in schools than drama and dance. There isn't an education system on the planet that teaches dance everyday to children the way we teach them mathematics. Why? Why not? I think this is rather important. I think math is very important, but so is dance. Children dance all the time if they're allowed to, we all do. We all have bodies, don't we? Did I miss a meeting?" -Sir Ken Robinson
What our schools should be doing is all-rounded education, not an emphasis on any particular subject, or reduce them into machines living lives they do not like. We shouldn't label or compare students by their different merits like we compare animals on a farm - everyone is good in their own right. We're not saying tests and competitions are useless - all we are saying is we should stop telling kids they are failure because they are "different" - enrich them, enlighten them, and encourage them. Let's stop this mental genocide, for although their bodies are still intact, we are killing the very mind and soul that lives inside them. "We are human beings. We are thinkers, dreamers, explorers, artists, writers, engineers. We are anything we want to be - but only if we have an educational system that supports us rather than holds us down. A tree can grow, but only if its roots are given a healthy foundation."
-Erica Goldson
