Prompt: Some people say that arts subjects such as painting or drawing should not be made compulsory for high school students. To what extent do you agree or disagree?

While learning arts subjects has become a required part in the high school curriculum in many countries, there is a viewpoint saying that teenagers do not need to spend time learning these. From my perspective, I disagree with the above statement as painting and drawing always play an essential part in the developmental journey of teenagers. The below essay will give the explanations for my viewpoint. Ċ Firstly, by learning how to paint or draw, high school students can nurture their aesthetic skills which help them to learn how to express their emotion and thought. In other words, learning arts assists teenagers to develop holistically, and they give them the tools to take care of their mental health. Without aesthetic skills, their life would become imbalance, meaningless and are full of stress. Taking learning music as an example, research has proved that knowing how to sing and dance is one of the special ways for teenagers to relieve stress, improve their self-esteem, and have more confidence in themselves. Ċ Secondly, arts subjects enhance students’ creative mindset, which is significant in the future due to the fact that nobody can predict how the world will change in the next fifty years. Therefore, the school should treat arts with the same status of literacy and numeracy. Unlike science subjects, arts can trigger creative mindset in teenagers at a high level because students are not frightened to be wrong. As a result, they will have the capacity to come up with the original ideas and look at problems from diverse perspectives. Ċ In conclusion, it would be a big mistake if we underestimate the role of arts in the school curriculum. Learning arts not only helps teenagers to take care of mental health but also improve their creative mindset. Without teaching arts, schools are just like a training institute where people only learn to meet the needs of industrialism.