We Need to Encourage More Writing in Schools

In today's school systems, we focus more on test scores than we do on anything else. My little sister often tells me that her teachers focus on memorizing formulas and facts to the point where my sister cries in frustration. It's ludicrous how much time students spend outside of class trying to cram so much information into their brains simply so that they can do well on a test, and you know what's not surprising? That information is usually forgotten shortly after the test is over (trust me, I can vouch for everyone). So my question is, why do we do this? Well, the short answer is: higher test scores means more funding for schools (in most cases). Of course, school representatives don't want students to know this, so they pass off the idea that test scores measure how well a teacher is doing in their classroom.

This system of "teach, memorize, test" may work for some students, but for most, it's more frustrating than anything. As students progress in grade level, the amount of content to memorize increases, and so does their frustration level. From my personal perspective, I know how much writing helped me in middle and high school. My English classes were a saving grace because there wasn't an overwhelming pressure to memorize a formula or remember an event in chronological order. It was just me and the pen (or computer). During my senior year, I took a creative writing class, and while it was a lot of work, I had so much fun doing it. I could write about how I felt, I could write about an event that I wanted to change, I could write about a character and I got to decide what would happen to her/him. During those classes I picked up on the other lessons like grammar, sentence structure and spelling (I mean, I probably wouldn't be working for the Odyssey if I wasn't good at that) and the teachers made the lessons better by being engaging. One of my teachers would even bring in hot chocolate for our class so we had a nice comfortable environment to share our work in. It's not always about the content, sometimes it's the teacher that makes the class so much better.

Writing can help so many students relieve stress, make friends, and even contribute to the school environment (think poetry slam or the school newspaper). Encouraging students to put their ideas, feelings, struggles on paper, it can create a new outlook on school for the student(s). We all want our children to succeed, so why not encourage something that can help them? Who knows, it could lead them to become an author, a journalist, or even a content creator for a well known forum like the Odyssey! (Heyyyyo!). Instead of focusing on what some silly test says about a student, why don't we start focusing on our student's talents and encourage them!

-As told by a student who tanked on tests, but is a master with her keyboard (or pen). Maybe you haven't found your talent yet, but it's there, I promise.