In middle and high school, I held a strong identity as an arts kid. I was always particularly fond of my arts classes while shunning and resenting science and math.
Growing up, I can distinctly remember my friend group being divided on those who enjoyed arts versus sciences courses, and it truly felt as if that identity was fixed where I maintained no desire to pursue any level of knowledge in my science classes.
Today, I find many people frequently debating which area of study provides a person with a superior skill set equipping them for the future. In truth, both influence a wide variety of different abilities and many times these skills overlap.
Generally speaking, science courses equip a person with a career that pays more, an analytic mentality to solve problems and the potential for discovering future technological progress. On the other hand, arts courses provide an individual with creative thinking skills, an increased sense of culture and the importance of individual expression.
Of course, there is significant overlap in the benefits that both areas of study provide including increased intelligence and problem-solving skills.
While every kid has a different skill set and of course this identification of one’s own aptness in each area is necessary to an individual’s development, studies find that the two are better woven together. Truthfully, in many ways, science and art when coexisting form the best framework for an individual.
Middle and high school education needs to prioritize the shaping of a kid not just in one skill set or subject; rather, they need to be taught equally in both areas of study in which they are able to pinpoint at some time which they prefer while also respecting the knowledge they gained through the other subject.
A person’s preference for one area of study is not necessarily a bad thing. It is fatal when a person subjects oneself to the lie that one is better than the other in a given circumstance.
Indeed, as previously mentioned, all people receive a unique set of skills allowing them to triumph in some area of study or intelligence over another; however, this does not deem it necessary to abandon all hope for the other category. Versatile people are the most recognized in the broad working force for their accomplishments. Therefore, we must begin to view the rift as unnecessary, and both sides need to bridge the gap in understanding the vitalness of science and art functioning together.
