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  1. #1

    Thumbs down Why are we forced to be creative in school?

    I'm going to keep this short and sweet. Please explain to me why are kids forced to be creative in school? Not everyone is bursting with creativity, and they should not be penalized because of that. Few careers actually require you to be creative. Art class should not be a required course in school. Thankfully for me, it is not anymore. But one thing that I really have a problem with is creative writing. Oh, creative writing. Back in 7th and 8th grade, I was required to write 4 stories per year in my English class. And I'm talking 7-10 page typed stories. And why did I have to do that? I don't want to be no goddamned author. And who is my teacher to say which story deserved a good grade and which ones didn't? What the hell is she basing her grading on? And now, years later, I'm sitting here frustrated again. Assigned a story to write in my English class. And not just any story; a very specific type of story, which just makes it that much harder. Furthermore, I have zero creativity. None. I can't even think of a name for my fucking main character. I was supposed to write a draft of said story over the weekend, which I did not do. Instead, I sat and stared at a blank piece of paper for (not exaggerating) 45 minutes before I gave up and took the 0 (which brought my grade down from an A to a B). This is absurd. Total fucking bullshit. Tell me why this is required. Please.

  2. #2
    Immortal Schattenlied's Avatar
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    It's the public school system, since when has there been a shred of logic in anything they do?
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  3. #3
    Quote Originally Posted by SooFaded View Post
    Please explain to me why are kids forced to be creative in school?
    Because we desire people to be able to think through things in a non-linear fashion.

    Quote Originally Posted by SooFaded View Post
    Few careers actually require you to be creative.
    I wouldn't say "few". Pretty much anything that's not menial labor requires creativity.

    Quote Originally Posted by SooFaded View Post
    But one thing that I really have a problem with is creative writing.
    Writing is one of the three or four most important skills in every single professional line of work that exists. Stop complaining and get better at it.

  4. #4
    Well where i am from you dont HAVE to take Art, theres also Media, Drama and Music.

  5. #5
    Immortal Schattenlied's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Cattaclysmic View Post
    Well where i am from you dont HAVE to take Art, theres also Media, Drama and Music.

    Those are all forms of art >.> Art isn't limited to drawing and painting.
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  6. #6
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    I'm surprised there is still creativity out there. With the streamlined tests and standardization going on, I would have thought being creative would have been less of a footprint. I'm glad there is still creativity. Imo, you have to learn to think out side the lines in many life and work scenarios. More practice you get opening that mind eye the better.
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  7. #7
    Quote Originally Posted by SooFaded View Post
    I'm going to keep this short and sweet. Please explain to me why are kids forced to be creative in school? Not everyone is bursting with creativity, and they should not be penalized because of that. Few careers actually require you to be creative. Art class should not be a required course in school. Thankfully for me, it is not anymore. But one thing that I really have a problem with is creative writing. Oh, creative writing. Back in 7th and 8th grade, I was required to write 4 stories per year in my English class. And I'm talking 7-10 page typed stories. And why did I have to do that? I don't want to be no goddamned author. And who is my teacher to say which story deserved a good grade and which ones didn't? What the hell is she basing her grading on? And now, years later, I'm sitting here frustrated again. Assigned a story to write in my English class. And not just any story; a very specific type of story, which just makes it that much harder. Furthermore, I have zero creativity. None. I can't even think of a name for my fucking main character. I was supposed to write a draft of said story over the weekend, which I did not do. Instead, I sat and stared at a blank piece of paper for (not exaggerating) 45 minutes before I gave up and took the 0 (which brought my grade down from an A to a B). This is absurd. Total fucking bullshit. Tell me why this is required. Please.
    Why was I forced to take math in school when I am taking an art degree right now?

  8. #8
    I agree with you, although I think that everybody probably has some creativity inside them so I think there should be the option of doing creative-related things and there should be plenty of choices to choose from.

  9. #9
    Well, if you're going to college and need an advanced English course that is relative to your future career, you're going to need that experience to do something different. I do find it tedious myself since I don't like it, but I do like being creative since it can work for them and myself in my career field. Nevertheless, it's just a skill you'll need to do if you want to proceed in your career. If anything, I wouldn't mind being an artist if I had the talent. :<
    Last edited by Renwin; 2012-11-12 at 11:16 PM.
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  10. #10
    Why do football players lift weights when there's not even any weights on the field?

  11. #11
    Quote Originally Posted by Spectral View Post
    Writing is one of the three or four most important skills in every single professional line of work that exists. Stop complaining and get better at it.
    This is one of the most amazing things I have ever read and I couldn't have said it better.

  12. #12
    Deleted
    I think it's just fine and everyone student should be creative.

    I mean, school wants you to be creative because of your future. You can't expect to do well in a job if you always think the same way and do the same thing over and over and over again.

    Being creative also develops your mind pretty well.

  13. #13
    Quote Originally Posted by Spectral View Post
    Writing is one of the three or four most important skills in every single professional line of work that exists. Stop complaining and get better at it.
    I'm talking about creative writing, as in making shit up and writing it down in story form. Not being able to form a coherent sentence.

  14. #14
    Quote Originally Posted by Knight Gil View Post
    Why was I forced to take math in school when I am taking an art degree right now?
    Because whether or not math is right is not an opinion, and you need it to calculate the amount of money you need to not get evicted from your artists loft

  15. #15
    Because in life you will have to do things that you don't want to do. Every job you ever had and will have will likely at some point force you to do something that you think is stupid/menial/pointless and you just have to suffer through it for the greater goal. It's called life and it probably isn't going to change because you think it's total fucking bullshit.

  16. #16
    I think the point is mostly to encourage kids to be themselves and think in their own way as opposed to some really standardized teaching styles where they pretty much just drill you on memorizing the materials you need to pass semi-standardized tests to get accepted into the next level of schooling. I personally think somewhere in the middle is ideal and agree that creative writing is useless for most professions. I always hated that crap, and thankfully I never had to do it since junior high (in grad school atm).

    What they should be doing is offering alternative paper assignments to help you learn what you will need for writing papers in college/university or in an actual career (obviously excluding english majors or creative writing based careers). Honestly, almost all my english classes were entirely useless. I never actually learned how to write a decent paper (of the type I would actually need to write) until my upper division major specific classes.

    Quote Originally Posted by cherb View Post
    Because in life you will have to do things that you don't want to do. Every job you ever had and will have will likely at some point force you to do something that you think is stupid/menial/pointless and you just have to suffer through it for the greater goal. It's called life and it probably isn't going to change because you think it's total fucking bullshit.
    No, its more like your company paying for you to go take classes in creative writing when you are an engineer or something. It is a waste of their money so they obviously won't do it (where as some companies will pay for part time education that is useful in helping you do your job better). Them asking you to do something menial/pointless isn't costing them money as they are already paying you for the time you are at work and they won't be asking you to do something like that at the expensive of something more useful. Teachers are essentially using tax payer money on this stuff as opposed to teaching something else, so it is in effect costing money.
    Last edited by Sesshou; 2012-11-12 at 11:19 PM.

  17. #17
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    Quote Originally Posted by SooFaded View Post
    I'm talking about creative writing, as in making shit up and writing it down in story form. Not being able to form a coherent sentence.
    It stimulates your brain, and that's good.

  18. #18
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    Quote Originally Posted by SooFaded View Post
    I'm going to keep this short and sweet. Please explain to me why are kids forced to be creative in school? Not everyone is bursting with creativity, and they should not be penalized because of that. Few careers actually require you to be creative. Art class should not be a required course in school. Thankfully for me, it is not anymore. But one thing that I really have a problem with is creative writing. Oh, creative writing. Back in 7th and 8th grade, I was required to write 4 stories per year in my English class. And I'm talking 7-10 page typed stories. And why did I have to do that? I don't want to be no goddamned author. And who is my teacher to say which story deserved a good grade and which ones didn't? What the hell is she basing her grading on? And now, years later, I'm sitting here frustrated again. Assigned a story to write in my English class. And not just any story; a very specific type of story, which just makes it that much harder. Furthermore, I have zero creativity. None. I can't even think of a name for my fucking main character. I was supposed to write a draft of said story over the weekend, which I did not do. Instead, I sat and stared at a blank piece of paper for (not exaggerating) 45 minutes before I gave up and took the 0 (which brought my grade down from an A to a B). This is absurd. Total fucking bullshit. Tell me why this is required. Please.
    HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLD it right there son,

    pretty much all jobs require you to think of creative solutions.
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  19. #19
    Quote Originally Posted by Spectral View Post
    Why do football players lift weights when there's not even any weights on the field?
    This is like the worst comparison ever. Any sport requires you to be fit and healthy if you even want a chance of winning.

  20. #20
    Write a story about your lack of creativity. Just my suggestion.
    Also, sometimes the amount of required creativity depends of the school program, the school itself or the teacher.

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