In New Jersey, creative writing is no longer important. That must be the view of the State Department of Education because this skill has been removed from the College and Career Readiness Standards K-12 English Language Arts. Go ahead:  Search these standards, as I did,  for the words “creative writing” or “fiction” or “poetry” and you’ll come up empty. Apparently the New Jersey Department of Education does not believe that creative skills prepare students for college and the work world. I feel this move away from creative writing is a mistake and an injustice to the students of New Jersey.

The move away from creative writing is the result of the emphasis on standardized tests.

One reason I feel removing creative writing from the state standards is wrong is because many students enjoy creative writing. If there is no creative writing in the curriculum, it could possibly result in the world losing its next great author. I understand not everyone is going to be a writer, but at least by offering fiction writing in the curriculum, students are exposed to all options. I fear that taking creative writing out of the curriculum could turn off many students to English class and writing completely.

I also fear that the removal of creative writing from the high school curriculum could affect students’ ability to think creatively and to imagine. This doesn’t only apply to entertainment like books and movies but to science also. For example, the invention of the airplane and the computer were a result of creative minds. By taking away creative writing, the world may be robbed of its next great inventor.

It is wrong to take complete focus off creative writing and then put all of the focus on “useful” skills for college and career preparation; education at the high school level should be balanced. Most of the English curriculum is now focused on training students to pass standardized tests. As a junior preparing for the High School Proficiency Assessment, I have been drilled in how to write persuasion and expository essays. Although these are important skills, I fear this is causing students to become robotic in the way they think; all of their writing is formulated — not creative.