A Plea for Art in Public Schools

    Creating has always been a therapeutic experience for me, a coping mechanism. For as long as I can remember, I've been drawing, making, cutting, pasting--creating. Art allows me to take my energy and emotion and channel it into something beyond myself.  

    I have been creating as an "artist," since middle school. When I was about twelve, I did all of my art in black and white or plain gray pencil. I was afraid to express myself in color. I was afraid to mess up my work. I was afraid to live vibrantly. I was also in a deep state of depression which can account for my choice of medium.

    Now, I am at a better place in my life. My art is full of color and whimsy. It is full of quotes, flowers, metallics, and happiness. It's a different time. A new type of art for me. A different stage if you will. Picasso had his "blue period," and I had a gray period. And I still have my gray days.

One of my most recent hand lettering projects

    Art is so beautiful, messy, weird, and fascinating, and it is dying in our public schools. How are kids supposed to express themselves in ways that they never expected? How are they supposed to dream and wonder? We must keep art in our public schools to give young people an outlet to communicate without saying a word. Art is powerful and has the ability to change lives. Children need to be exposed and immersed in it during their education experience in order to learn and grow as humans.

A page from my high school Narrative Project

    For me, art class was an escape. An escape from the chaos around me. A place where I could just focus and learn. I could listen to Nora Jones and the Red Hot Chili Peppers while I cut and pasted magazine pieces into the negative space of my still life. It was my favorite part of my day. However, the quality of art education that I received beyond middle school is not what I would call education. The classrooms were messy, unorganized, and the teachers didn't teach technique, style, or even art history. They didn't teach at all. The supplies were few and far between or ruined due to lack of care. Once I was in college, I was given the opportunity to take an Art Appreciation class taught by a teacher with so much passion. She talked about art in a way that allowed me to devour it, and I was utterly amazed. I will never forget her giving me that experience. 

A page from my Narrative dedicated to
Warhol

    Art has helped me through the bad, it has allowed me to shine through the good, and it has given me a voice when I was too afraid to speak. Art is so important. I will never stop, and we must make sure that the next generation is exposed to it. Without art, the world is lackluster. Without art, the world's beauty and future voices are stifled.

    My first love in the art world was Claude Monet with his water lilies and Paris landscapes in middle school. Then, came Andy Warhol with his bold use of color and line in high school. After that, I discovered the likes of Yasumadsa Morimura and his self protraits and Maria Abramovic in The Artist is Present in college. Now, I'm in love with the typography of Kimothy Joy.  I will always be a viewer, appreciator, and creator. 

    Art has influenced my way of thinking and my view of the world. It has shaped me as a person. I hope my children and their peers can say the same. Do what you can to save the fine arts in our public schools by writing your local school board a letter, by donating to Americans for the Arts, or by directly donating to your school's art program.

Here are a few pieces of my art--a now and then if you will.

Two of my latest hand lettered pieces

Three of my paintings from 2016

Two of my very first collages created at least 12 years ago

Thanks for reading! Don't stop creating!

Stacy

Let Her Walk

    An issue that is plaguing our public schools in the U.S. and across the world is teen pregnancy. In the media, teen pregnancy has become glamorized with shows like Teen Mom and 16 and Pregnant. As a mom, who has been pregnant twice and blessed with three boys, I can tell you there is nothing glamorous about pregnancy. You gain weight that can make you feel sluggish, you have to pee like crazy, your skin develops weird patches, hair grows where you previously didn't have hair, and to top it all off you vomit around the clock in the beginning unless you're lucky. Pregnancy is hard. For me, it has even been life threatening. I can't imagine having to deal with this at such a young age. But, for Maddi Runkles and many teens like her, this is now a reality. We have to prevent teen pregnancy from happening not because it is wrong for teens to have sex, but because it is hard to be a parent at any age. It is even harder when you are still a kid yourself. We need more comprehensive sex education in our public schools to prevent situations like that of Maddi's. And, to prevent the shame centered around it, the injustices that result from teen pregnancy, and the stereotype that it is wrong for teens to want and to have sex.

Safe sex is always necessary!

    Maddi Runkles had sex before marriage as reported by The Washington Post in Joe Heim's article "Teen Banned from Graduation ‘Not Because She Is Pregnant but Because She Was Immoral’". This is a decision that many teens today choose to make, myself included when I was a teen. Maddi is now pregnant and is having her baby in 3 months at the age of 18 years old. Her school tried to expel her, shut her out, made a public post on their website about the "love" that they are giving her through "discipline," and they are now keeping her from walking at her high school graduation. An achievement that was well earned by Maddi. She was a 4.0 student who served as student council president until she became pregnant. Why should this student not get to celebrate her achievement or hold office in her school, because she chose to have sex? I had sex before graduating high school, and the Center for Disease Control (CDC) reported in 2015 that 41% of teens were having sex ("Sexual Risk Behaviors: HIV, STD, & Teen Pregnancy Prevention"). These were the numbers released on the teens surveyed that were honest and felt comfortable disclosing this personal information. That does not mean that these numbers are not higher. Having sex is a personal choice, and it seems that there are only further consequences for teens who choose to engage in this behavior if it results in pregnancy. As long as teens are being safe (by using oral contraceptives or condoms), consenting, legal, and overall responsible, then it is really none of our business what they are doing in their free time. 

Always use some kind of contraceptive!

    The issue in Maddi's case is that she DID get pregnant. She was not offered sex education in high school, but she was taught abstinence only. Comprehensive sex education is absolutely necessary in our public schools to prevent teen pregnancy. Comprehensive sex education is defined as the following by The Future of Sex Education's website: "The comprehensive sexuality education curriculum should include a variety of topics including anatomy, physiology, families, personal safety, healthy relationships, pregnancy and birth, sexually transmitted diseases including HIV, contraceptives, sexual orientation, pregnancy options, media literacy and more. It should be medically accurate. Qualified, trained teachers should provide sexuality education" ("Definition of Comprehensive Sex Education"). This type of sex education should be in every school district in the U.S. However, it was only offered in 11 of our states in the U.S as reported in an article published by The Public Library of Science in 2011 entitled "Abstinence-Only Education and Teen Pregnancy Rates: Why We Need Comprehensive Sex Education in the U.S." written by Kathrin Stranger Hall and David Hall (4).  In fact the results of the study conclude that, "teens in states that prescribe more abstinence education are actually more likely to become pregnant..." as we see in Maddi Runkles case (4).  Comprehensive sex education works, and we NEED to include it in EVERY public school. 

16 and Pregnant is skewing how teens view pregnancy.

    With shows like Teen Mom and 16 and Pregnant glamorizing the lifestyle of teen parents by throwing money at the girls that they cast, it is no wonder why girls are getting pregnant at alarming rates. Let's not throw money at this issue in this way! Let's throw some money at comprehensive sex education in our public schools. Teens need to be educated on consent and safe sex. They need this education to take into their adult lives, so we can prevent unwanted pregnancy, sexual assault,sexually transmitted diseases and infections,etc. --not saying that this education will end these issues, but it will help to ensure our students and teens have been equipped with the education to prevent these things from occurring. 

God has more to do, trust me.

    In Maddi's case, her school is very religious. Her administrators feel that she has committed an egregious sin that should be made into an example. I really think God has more to worry about than this poor girl having sex before marriage. Let her walk. I had sex before marriage, was safe, and did so with consent on both sides. I don't think God views me any differently, and I don't think he views this girl differently for getting pregnant at 18. If we don't want teens getting pregnant, then we need to have better resources for them that include readily accessible information on safe sex practices as well as contraceptives. 

    It is not shameful to have sex. If we were to make an active decision to talk about this more with our children and actually educate them, then maybe we could enact some change. Maybe we could change the mind of older generations that want to persecute teens for making these decisions. We are all sexual beings and there should be no shame in that. Maddi should be allowed to walk at her graduation. She has done nothing wrong. Let. Her. Walk.  

Thanks for reading,

Stacy

Works Cited

"Definition of Comprehensive Sex Education." Futureofsexed.org. Advocates for Youth, n.d. Web. 25 May 2017.

Heim, Joe. "Christian School: Teen Banned from Graduation 'not Because She Is Pregnant but Because She Was Immoral'." The Washington Post. WP Company, 24 May 2017. Web. 25 May 2017.

"Sexual Risk Behaviors: HIV, STD, & Teen Pregnancy Prevention." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 10 Mar. 2017. Web. 25 May 2017.

Stanger-Hall, Kathrin F., and David W. Hall. "Abstinence-Only Education and Teen Pregnancy Rates: Why We Need Comprehensive Sex Education in the U.S." PLoS ONE 6.10 (2011): 3-4. Google Scholar. Web. 25 May 2017.

Recognition for the So-Called "Average" Student

    I have spent a chunk of my time in the past five years surrounded by teenagers whether that be in unpaid internships or in my very own classroom. One issue with our education system in general--not just in Oklahoma-- is the lack of recognition for students who do not exceed our system's demanding and trivializing expectations. Our students and children are so much more than percentages, grade letters, demographics, and standardized test results. Categorizing our students this way is easy, but it's far from fair (i.e. School A-F Report Cards). We need to start treating our average students like they matter! Award season recognizes the exceptional, the students who have the ability to go above and beyond. But what about the rest of the students? What about the majority of learners in our schools?

    I am not a person who believes in "participation" awards or trophies given for the sake of trophies. But let's be honest for a second, the children that make up school populations are not just the "best and the brightest" as determined by society's arbitrary standards of excellence. More commonly, our society is made up of kids with real world problems who struggle every day and are rarely recognized for the effort and courage it takes to just wake up, get dressed, and go to school all the while persevering through the million other challenges they face. Academics and sports are not the be all end all. Successful lives are not made or broken based on what someone was like in high school. We are raising and teaching humans, and the common student deserves recognition too for facing their personal challenges and navigating through their academic careers.

    With this being said, just think about the "average" life of these teens for a minute. They have to get up and typically be to school by 7:30 a.m., they have jobs, they have after school activities, they have homework, and that is just the basics. Now, throw social media into the mix, cell phones, bullying, sexuality, friendships, world issues, etc.The list goes on and on.  Their lives are overwhelming, and they are still developing the cognitive abilities to deal with these very adult challenges. They all deserve to be recognized. Honestly, I do not know how teens manage to navigate young adulthood today. If social media had been apart of my young life as much as it has been ingrained into theirs, then I know for a fact that I would have had a much tougher go of it all.

    If you are a young person in school, keep persevering. Keep persisting. Keep going to school. Just because you may not fit into the cookie cutter mold of the "best and brightest" does not mean you are not worthy of recognition. If you're someone who has decided to not finish school or pursue higher education, but you are supporting yourself, then you still deserve recognition. You all do. You're doing a great job. 👍💖👍💖  I applaud you.

Thanks for reading,

Stacy