To what extent do you agree with the statement "School should cut art out of the curriculum". Support your claims with appropriate grounds and warrants.  

As the proverb goes, "So many people, so many minds", it is quite understandable
that people from different backgrounds have divergent attitudes towards the same issue.
The case of art education is no exception. Along with the promotion of many science subjects, art is being marginalized in a large number of education systems. Although many people are supporting the idea of eliminating art from the curriculum, there is some evidence showing that it is of great importance to school children in particular and society in general in terms of academic achievement, future benefits, and the children's development.

Many people claim that art is no longer useful in school, and the standardized tests are their reason. They believe that art is of great triviality and claim that focusing on it could
make students' academic performance poorer. These people, however, may not notice
that although standardized tests like SATs and GMAT are important to students, they
cannot measure their creativity, confidence, or artistry. Moreover, in fact, art helps
students to perform better academically. In a recent survey undertaken by the National
Education Union of the United States of America, 97% of the union's teachers shared the
opinion that the burden of preparing for standardized tests prevents students from having
a balanced curriculum, and art education is undeniably a solution to this disequilibrium.
Similarly, in 2012, four studies were conducted by the National Endowment for the Arts,
also in the US, to study the levels of arts engagement of some groups of people including
young adults, teenagers, and children. The result reveals that the ones with high levels of
participation in art activities had "better academic outcomes with higher overall grades,
higher participation in sports and extracurricular activities, a higher likelihood of
planning for attending 2-4 year colleges, and eventually more likely to earn their
bachelor's degree." That is, art helps students to achieve long-term success and creates a generation of diligent and well-serving members of society, which is the goal of almost every education system.  

For financial reasons, some people think that art should be excluded from the
curriculum: teaching art in school requires a large budget spent on school equipment.
This is just partially true. The people holding this idea may have failed to take every
economy-related aspect into consideration. Nothing could be further from the truth; art is
everywhere and so is its application. Investing in art in schools could bring enormous
economic benefits to the community. In fact, almost everything is somehow related to art.
In other words, artistic products can be seen everywhere. From a banner in the street to a
popular Marvel comic book, from a bungalow over the hillside to a man-made wonder
like the Eiffel Tower, from casual pajamas to an ostentatious outfit in New York Fashion
Week, from a play performed by schoolchildren to a Hollywood blockbuster; art is
present in nearly every industry. The non-profit arts industry alone accounts for $166.2
billion in economic activity (Clair, 2011). Hence, it is sagacious to encourage schools to
keep teaching art. Creativity and a myriad of knowledge and skills the future owners of
the countries absorb at schools could magnify their contributions. With the help of art,
building a new Golden Gate Bridge or constructing a modern version of the Colosseum is
just a matter of time for mankind, so art education should be perceived as a wise
investment, not an onerous burden.

The future of the students is the last reason for many people's skepticism about the
practicality of art. They allege that the role of education is to prepare children for the
modern world, and art should be omitted from the curriculum so that children can focus
on other useful subjects such as information technology, mathematics, and sciences.
However, as a matter of fact, students who just focus on certain subjects like
languages, mathematics, or science and ignore art are not fully prepared for the present-day world. Art, actually, has plenty of developmental benefits. Some of them are motor
skills, decision-making, and cultural awareness (Lynch, 2014). Scribbling with a crayon,
holding a paintbrush, and making many other motions while creating arts are vital to the
growth of motor skills in young children. According to the National Institutes of Health, USA, drawing a circle and beginning to use scissors can be considered as developmental milestones around age three. In making decisions, art education bolsters critical-thinking and problem-solving competencies. MaryAnn Kohl, an arts educator and author of
numerous books about children's art education, says "If children are exploring and
thinking and experimenting and trying new ideas, then creativity has a chance to
blossom." Furthermore, as the world is getting more and more diverse, teaching children
to be aware of culture is, without doubt, a value of art. Dr. Kerry Freedman, Head of Art
and Design Education at Northern Illinois University, says "If a child is playing with a
toy that suggests a racist or sexist meaning, part of that meaning develops because of the
aesthetics of the toy—the color, shape, texture of the hair." That is why educating
children to recognize the choices an artist or designer makes in portraying a subject,
which can shape their interpretation of reality, is essential. On the whole, in this modern
world, learning to create and appreciate art is more important than ever to the
development of the next generation.

To put it all in a nutshell, from the abovementioned ideas and analysis, it is safe to
draw the conclusion that keeping art as a part of the curriculum is a wise choice. The
benefits of art in academic performance, the worthiness of investment in art education, and its assistance in children's development are concrete proof showing that art is
irreplaceable. As the genius artist Pablo Picasso once said "Every child is an artist. The
problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up." Schoolchildren, more than anyone,
deserve the help to maintain that instinct artistry, and schools, of course, must be the
cradles from which the love for art is nurtured, and better future citizens are born.  

Reference list
- Adams, R. (2017, September 21). Proportion of students taking arts subjects fall to lowest level in decade. Retrieved from www.theguardian.com:
https://www.theguardian.com/education/2017/sep/21/proportion-of-students-taking-artssubjectsfalls-to-lowest-level-in-decade

- Clair, M. (2011, July 6). Gov't Shouldn't Cut Art to Save Budgets . Retrieved from mic.com :
https://mic.com/articles/918/gov-t-shouldn-t-cut-art-to-save-budgets#.TQAx3aldh

- Havey, H. (2016, May 17). The Importance Of Art And Music Programs In Schools. Retrieved from
Odyssey: https://www.theodysseyonline.com/the-importance-of-art-and-music-programsinschools

- Hul, J. V. (2008, February 19). Interview with MaryAnn F. Kohl on the Importance of Art. Retrieved from the artful parent: https://artfulparent.com/interview-with-maryann-f-kohl-ontheimportance-of-art/

- Lynch, G. H. (2014). The Importance of Art in Child Development. Retrieved from pbsparents:
http://www.pbs.org/parents/education/music-arts/the-importance-of-art-in-child-development/

- National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). (2012). New NEA Research Report Shows Potential Benefits of Arts Education for At-Risk Youth.

- The National Union Teacher (NUT). (2016). The Crisis in Primary Assessment - Report of an NUT
survey of primary teachers and headteachers.

- The Secret Teacher. (2018, January 6). Secret Teacher: subjects like art are being sidelined – but they matter. Retrieved from The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/teachernetwork/2018/jan/06/secret-teacher-unbalanced-curriculum-sats-assessment-children-artmusiclanguages-sidelined