Topic

Art-based subjects, such as the visual arts, music, drama, and dance, should be prioritized in high schools.

Instructions

Write an essay paper arguing that Art-based subjects, such as the visual arts, music, drama, and dance, should be prioritized in high schools.

Answer Preview

Participation in arts education has been shown to be academically beneficial to the students. For example, findings from the National Endowment have shown that students from poor backgrounds who had art-rich experiences had a higher possibility of completing their high school education, and joining an institution of higher learning (Hawkins, 2012). These low-income students who engaged with arts-subjects were five times more likely to obtain a Bachelor’s degree in arts than their counterparts who did not have any experience with arts subjects (Hawkins, 2012). These findings underscore the significance of arts-rich experiences in the students’ pursuit of higher education. Moreover, students who had fewer or zero credits in arts subjects were five times as likely to fail to complete their high school studies as those that had more arts credits (Hawkins, 2012). Taking arts subjects challenges the students to explore their creativity, as well as change their attitude towards education (Ruppert, 2006). Accordingly, such students are willing to proceed with their education, thereby improving their chances of realizing success not only in their education, but also at the workplace, and life in general. Generally, impressive academic performance, and the achievement of college degrees are associated with improved opportunities and prospects of success for the graduates.

Word Count: 1100