Question

Read the following excerpt from an online post on a website on educational practices.

Kids who appreciate how much effort, time and care goes into growing food will understand how important farmers are, and why it's important to take care of our Earth. In the world of today, gardening needs to be given more importance than sports, music and dance in all schools because it creates environmental stewards and outdoor learning laboratories that help the child and community for years to come.

Write a paragraph in 100-120 words to analyse the given argument.

You could think about what alternative explanations might weaken the given conclusion and include rationale/evidence that would strengthen/counter the given argument.

Answer 1

Against the argument

The argument that gardening should be given more importance than sports, music or dance seems counter productive. While it is true that gardening is important and introduces children to the world of growing food, in school programs it is not more important than sports or arts. Unlike gardening which is an activity for the common good, sports and arts play a crucial role in the personal development of a child. For example, playing a sport improves the overall fitness level of a child and helps them cope with both success and failure. In the same way, art is an expression of a child’s inherent skills. Both are important for their personal growth and happiness and hence cannot be ignored at all. By contrast, while gardening is enjoyable, it is not always within the power of the child to control the outcome. Bad weather can destroy plants. In the same, pests and weeds can also wreak havoc and make children lose interest. On the other hand, accomplishing success in sports or dance is somewhat easier if the child shows enough dedication.