Fine Arts Programs In Schools example essay topic

Corporal Punishment Corporal punishment has been around for many years, even centuries. Many schools allowed corporal punishment, but is it necessary to us it in public schools? Can it be taken too far? Up until the 60's and 70's, corporal punishment was a natural thing in schools and as court sentences. It wasn't until the later part of the century that parents began to complain about the treatment of their children. Many parents believe that there are other options of punishment and discipline that schools can use.

There have been cases where students were severely punished for ridiculous reasons, such as kissing or cuddling with someone of the opposite sex. Fortunately, for all the parents that disagree with corporal punishment, so does the government because very few schools practice it anymore. In 1988, nine states barred corporal punishment for schools in New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Vermont, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Maine, Hawaii, and California. Many people believe that corporal punishment signals to the child that the way to settle personal problems is through violence and pain and they may resort to it themselves. The American Academy of Pediatrics believes that corporal punishment may affect a student's self image and could cause them to have disruptive and violent behavior. There are many alternatives to corporal punishment in schools, such as in school suspension, detention, and other such punishments.

Also teachers are urged to use behavior contracts, use positive reinforcement or appropriate behavior, and encourage disciplinary consequences, which are meaningful to students. But the school should be able to provide the students with social skills training and individualized and group counseling. Is corporal punishment bad or good? I believe that the parents should have the option of the way that they would like the school to handle it. My personal opinion is from a personal experience. My parents gave the school the right to spank me and trust me that was enough of a threat to me!

I knew that I had to behave or I would get a spanking at school, and again once I got home from my mom and dad. If a teacher ever said to me, "you " re getting time out or you " re getting a mark in your folder", that did nothing for me, but the minute they said "spanking" I straightened up. Corporal punishment made me want to do good and not get in trouble. I do see some truth in some of the opposing opinion. In the end, I think it should be the parent's choice. Standardized Testing Is standardized testing beneficial to our nation's children?

Standardized tests are made to judge a child's intelligence in order to place them at certain levels in school. Couldn't teachers do the same job, being around students for the school year should enable him or her to judge the levels of intelligences? Everyone should know the benefits and the downfalls in order to understand the necessity. Some of the benefits of standardized testing are that they evaluate the school programs and teachers. This ensures that all students gain the best knowledge from the best teachers and available programs.

Standardized testing also documents a student's progress throughout the year, allowing teachers to know what areas a particular student has strengths and / or weaknesses in. Also by knowing a students level of skills it will give them the chance to be involved in special programs or groups, and eventually good scores on the tests will ensure a high school diploma or other such certificates. When a student does well on the SATs or TAAS / TAKS, it allows them the chance to be accepted into college, to be eligible for financial aid, and also exempts them from having to take other placement tests at the college level. Even though there are many beneficial effects of standardized tests, many people express different opinions.

Many students say that when in high school taking the TAAS / TAKS to much emphasis was placed on the test instead of on regular classroom instruction and class work. The students are pressure because if they don't pass this single test then they will not advance to the next grade and / or their graduation can be postponed. It doesn't matter that they have made all A's in their regular work, if they can't pass the test then they simply get left behind. Many of the items studied for the TAAS / TAKS are things the students already know, and the practices become very boring and monotonous causing the children to rush through the test and not pay attention to what they are doing. Some people even mention that standardized tests are good for some things, but not for all things. The tests shouldn't be able to determine whether or not a student will pass or fail a certain grade or whether or not they will be able to graduate with the students they have grown up with.

These tests should instead be used to measure averages and for studying growth and development, So are standardized tests beneficial to us? As a student who has been through many years of these tests and as a student who one day will be a teacher I believe that these tests are beneficial from some things and not for others. The way the state has set up the testing and has required teachers to "teach to the test" scares me and has now made me not want to teach any grade above second so that I can truly teach my children. I feel that these tests are an useful tool in measuring growth and knowledge, but I don't feel they should determine the placement of a child in a certain grade level. Uniforms For many years there has been much debating about dress codes and uniforms. The question of whether or not we should have uniforms in public school arises more frequently now than ever.

Most people believe that uniforms would be beneficial because they would stop the name brand competition between children and it would also keep children from wearing inappropriate outfits. Some people argue that uniforms would help with the name brand competition that kids in school deal with. Many children's parents cannot afford to buy name brand clothes for their children and therefore these kids are no considered to be in the "in" crowd. Many children are teased because their clothes aren't good enough or because they wear hand me downs. If a child wears the same outfit the next day others then perceive that child as dirty, even if that is their only outfit and it was washed. If parents could go to the store like Wal-Mart to buy uniforms, or buy uniforms through the school all they would need would be two sets of uniforms.

If child wears the same thing the next day then no one would even notice because they would all be wearing the same thing everyday. Others suggest that school uniforms would help decrease violence and theft in schools over the wearing and flaunting of name brand clothes. Uniforms would also help reduce the amount of gang activities in the schools because they wouldn't be allowed to wear the colors associated with their individual gang. Uniforms would also allow the children to remain better focused on their school work because then they wouldn't be worried about who is wearing what.

The biggest argument for uniforms however is the fact that if a; ; students are required to wear uniforms then intruders or visitors who come into the school are then easily identified. On the other hand, many people disagree with uniforms because children loose their identity. Everyone has to dress the same and therefore they have now way to then express themselves as individuals. Also, parents argue that since they have to buy uniforms, they would in turn still have to buy play clothes for their children. This then means that the parents are now spending double the money on clothes than they were when their children didn't wear uniforms. In conclusions, there are many opinions either way and it will forever be a never ending battle on whether or not a child would benefit from the wearing of a uniform.

In my personal opinion, I believe the benefits in wearing uniforms in this case far outweigh the benefits of wearing street clothes. I never did wear a uniform in school, but I would have rather ed it because then I wouldn't have had to pick out my clothes everyday! Decline of Fine Arts Budget cuts are a major problem for schools, and when there is a shortage of money something then has to be eliminated. Fine Arts programs are always the first ones to feel the budget cuts in schools no matter what grade levels are housed. Sadly, these programs are considered to be expendable and not necessary. To many administrators and "higher-ups" they are not as important as math, language arts, science, and / or social studies.

Something must be done to stop this, but what? There are many reasons that the arts are so important. Many students taking Fine Arts score higher on standardized tests, which in turn allows them opportunities for getting into more prestigious colleges, getting grants and financial aid, and allowing them to be able to receive many academic honors and awards. The more money the students receive and the better the universities the students go to the better the school and school districts look. This also goes along with testing, the better the test scores the students receive the higher the ranking the school gets from the state board, which in turn allows for funding. It is also believed that if students are given the opportunity to participate in Fine Arts it will help them with technology and science classes.

Music helps to give students flexibility and the ability to solve problems, communicate easily with others, and it makes it easier to learn new skills. A very important reason that music and art should not be taken out of school is because it interests students, and it is part of everyday life for most people. Many professionals such as architects, designers, and engineers gain their interest while in elementary grades, and it would be a shame to eliminate the very thing that inspired these young children to someday create beauty in the world. I believe that to eliminate the Fine Arts programs in schools would be very detrimental. When I was in school I remember going to Fine Arts and these classes being ones that gave me a much welcomed challenged and it was also a pleasant break from the monotonous classroom routine. I know from personal experience that cutting back in the area of Fine Arts is something the state's should shy away from.

Schools are going to begin to loose students if they do away with these programs not just at the high school level, but also on a college level. Fine Arts classes help to inspire future artists, musicians, sculptors, engineers, and designers. Who's to say what the world would be like if the arts are cut out of today's schools? Religion Religion in schools is a very controversial issue.

The number of religious activities has slowly declined over the years. The more our public schools become more diverse with children from other cultures and religions, the more controversy. There is a proper time for religious worship even during school. Each student should have the respect that they deserve no matter what religion they are.

Many issues have been brought up such as no prayers because children from different backgrounds.