On Balance: Schools Should Teach Fine Arts to the Students

Thank you for your argument, and I commend you on your very strong argument. I will now being to rebut your points, and then move onto my constructive speech. In your speech you stated "Totally disagree on this one. Because no two pictures, sculptures or music is exactly the same. People make art the way they want to. Art classes are not a dictatorship, instead you have the tools in your hand to create whatever you want. I don't want to be brash but you can do what ever the hell you want with either your paint brush, hammer and chisel or voice and that is creativity in motion." I would first like to point out, that art classes are indeed a dictatorship, as long as they are under the school system. To further evolve on this point, I would first like to examine how the school system teaches any subject. First off a curriculum is written up and assignments and assessments are made. This itself should be enough to rebut your previous point. This is because if there are assessments then the students are being told what to draw, and what makes it a good or a bad drawing. This would then stifle creativity and turn off young artists. But it does not stop there. Students are only allowed to use certain tools and they can only draw certain lines until they are "taught" the other forms. This is the evolution of the art curriculum. [1] In your speech you also stated " School is usually the first step to becoming an adult. Studies show that it is while in school that children s brains develop most." This does not add credibility to your point. I will now seek to prove why. Schools are instituted as a place of learning [2]. Because schools are a place of learning it is obvious that the most recorded development in children's brains is in the middle of the day when the brain is most active, and because they are being taught. If children were to be taught in a different area at the same time, the levels would be just the same because the variables would not have been changed. In your speech you also stated "I'm pointing out the facts! Where were your sources? If it is just your opinion then it falls through, you needed to add facts. If they are needed in society they need to be taught in school! The children in school make up the FUTURE SOCIETY. Therefore the arts need to be taught in school. On balance which means the benefits are more toward teaching the arts, then not teaching them in school." First off, if I am logically rebutting your points, using logic and philosophy as I have been doing, sources are not completely needed because all I am doing is pointing out the logical flaws in your statements. I agree that the children in school make up the future society, that much is obvious. It does not gain any evidence towards your point as the fact that our future societies must be made up of children that completely understand the subjects needed for society and human understanding to advance such as math and science. I would rather have scientific advances then a painting, poorly done as it will be, due to the tutelage of our poor, conformist school system. Again, that was a logical rebuttal, so there is no source to put in. Just to make you happy here [3]. "Studies show the brain stops developing around 25." That is a great fact, but I do not see the connection it makes to your subject. This just shows that the arts need to be taught properly, not by our school system so that the children have the right understanding, and that there needs to be more stress on the developmental courses such as math and science so that theories and equations are embedded before 25! You then move on to state that our children must be taught early on! I completely agree that the essential english and grammatical lessons must be taught early so that our children mat speak clearly and properly. I agree that math must be taught early so that our children can effectively calculate. I agree that business must be taught so that they can properly invest. I do not agree that the arts shall be taught, because society can function without them, and they do not lend them-self to the economy of the world. The arts only make up .025% of out total jobs, so clearly they are not needed considering the funding given to them in our school system! [4] You finally stated something fundamentally wrong to the essence of debate. You stated "Your quote doesn't sway me in the least. Don't use red herrings on me. How the teachers teach them doesn't apply here. The facts are already on the table from me. The art that is being taught is helping students do better in school, stay in school, and help them in their social life." Now how is using a quote, lovingly written by the creator of your american art school system, quoting the wrongdoings of our art system a red herring? I tied the quote back into the resolution, and explained what it meant, so how can it be a red herring? A red herring is "Attempting to redirect the argument to another issue that to which the person doing the redirecting can better respond. While it is similar to the avoiding the issue fallacy, the red herring is a deliberate diversion of attention with the intention of trying to abandon the original argument." [5] You see that now my argument cannot be a red herring as I tied the quote in to the topic that we are debating and clearly explained it. Therefore it cannot be a red herring as defined above. To conclude, the arts cannot be taught in school as it takes away from society advancing subjects, is distracting to the student and other students, wastes our governments money, and overall is taught wrongly by our education system. Since that arts in our school is taught in a dictatorship manner and marked by a teacher, is against the fundamental purpose of the arts as a creative subject to be graded and assessed. It is for these reasons that this resolution must and shall fall. Thank You! Resources: [1] https://www.edu.gov.on.ca... [2] http://stand.org... [3] My brain! OH WOW, that's a source eh?! [4] http://www.statcan.gc.ca... [5]http://www.logicallyfallacious.com...