A Loss of Individualism
A Loss of Individualism? Many schools in America today are depriving children and young adults of individual growth because they have restricted the literature discussed to topics based on the surrounding or minority cultures, and have also begun teaching expected behavior based on the ideas of a certain culture. Students need role models and variety, when learning, to enhance their knowledge and grow their imaginations. If students are encouraged to only read accepted books or act a specific way than they will eventually lose sight of whom they truly are. Students without the encouragement to explore new things and accept others for who they are will only foster a world with people who to accept what is normal an shun what is “taught” to be different. Students in the world, today, need to be encouraged to explore as much literature as possible and taught to accept the different behaviors of different cultures.
Schools across the country have been forced to throw out essential literature just because it does not fit into what is thought to be “accepted” or appropriate. The “accepted” literature is based on the ideas of society and the idea that students should be taught a certain way to think. For many people this seems to be a very good idea, but in truth it is only harming the students by stripping them of important role models and denying them the freedom of expanding their curiosities toward different cultures. When students are encouraged to explore literature and learn as much as possible they become more willing to learn, because they have the freedom to learn from what interests them. Allowing students the freedom to read what they want will awaken their imaginations and help to mold them into their own individual persons. In her essay, Alice Walker comments, “The absence of models, in literature as in life, to say nothing of painting, is an occupational hazard for the artist, simply because models in art, in behavior, in growth of spirit,
Schools across the country have been forced to throw out essential literature just because it does not fit into what is thought to be “accepted” or appropriate. The “accepted” literature is based on the ideas of society and the idea that students should be taught a certain way to think. For many people this seems to be a very good idea, but in truth it is only harming the students by stripping them of important role models and denying them the freedom of expanding their curiosities toward different cultures. When students are encouraged to explore literature and learn as much as possible they become more willing to learn, because they have the freedom to learn from what interests them. Allowing students the freedom to read what they want will awaken their imaginations and help to mold them into their own individual persons. In her essay, Alice Walker comments, “The absence of models, in literature as in life, to say nothing of painting, is an occupational hazard for the artist, simply because models in art, in behavior, in growth of spirit,
Bibliography: Children’s Literature and Traditional Literature Potential in the School Curriculum." (2011): 1-12 Artist 's Life." Muller. Gilbert McGraw-Hill Reader. . Eleventh ed. New York: McGraw-Hill Companies , 2011 Curriculum." (2011): 1-12. Prescott Memorial Library. Web. 1 Nov 2013. McGraw-Hill Companies , 2011. 614-622. Print.