by Aris Jameson

Created on: May 24, 2008   Last Updated: April 03, 2010

The worst thing a teacher can do is deter students from wanting to continue taking classes in that particular subject by squelching creativity. I've had many great teachers who realized that every student wasn't perfect, and they rewarded students for giving an honest effort. But there are too many teachers who seem to enjoy deriding and reviling students, and surprisingly enough, many of them do not even teach core subjects.

In middle school, I received straight A's in advanced math, science, history, and English, and each of those teachers claimed that I was a diligent student and a pleasure to have in class. But I received a C+ in art that year, and the teacher wrote on the report card: "finds subject difficult." Honestly, how is it possible for a person who achieves A's in all of the important classes to get a C+ in art? What ever happened to the famous line: beauty is in the eye of the beholder? I've seen plenty of "classic" pieces of artwork in museums that look like they were done by five-year-olds with finger paint, and this schmuck had the audacity to lower my cumulative average by giving me a C+ - absolutely preposterous.

The next year, I received straight A's, yet again, in all of my core courses, but I got a C in physical education, despite the fact that I had attended every class. To be perfectly honest, just showing up with your gym clothes on should be enough to get you an A in that class, but apparently the high grades are only reserved for the football and lacrosse players. (Ironically, that gym teacher happened to be the coach of both sports) In fact, gym is the only class those students seem to do well in.

And administrators in American schools are wondering why there has been a drastic decline in students voluntarily choosing art, music, and physical education classes as electives in high school. Newsflash...the core classes are hard enough, we don't need these cretins giving students anything lower than a B+ in the classes that are supposed to be fun. It simply isn't fair when teachers of irrelevant classes play favorites and offset the good grades you've earned in the important classes that will actually have an impact on your future.

When I reached high school, I just took another science elective and skipped art and gym altogether - needless to say I made straight A's that year. It doesn't say much for the American public education system when thousands of students are doing better in honors classes than art or physical education classes.

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