So don't be afraid, You are Worth More than Many Sparrows
With our stressful and pressurized society we are living in, young children and especially teenagers, can benefit tremendously with extramural classes in Literature and Poetry. Students will be taught how to respect the views and emotions of their fellow students by addressing what a poem means to them emotionally and not what it means intellectually, which enables them to think diffidently, perhaps applying newly formed concepts to existing behaviours and attitudes. Reading and writing poetry can exercise that capacity, improving one’s ability to better conceptualize the world and communicate it — through presentations or writing — to others.
Poetry can also help one develop a more acute sense of empathy, it gives us a better “understanding” — of the world, the self, and others. Many poets focus intensely on understanding the people around them. The intense empathy developed by so many poets is a skill essential to those who occupy executive suites and regularly need to understand the feelings and motivations of board members, colleagues, customers, suppliers, community members, and employees.
Reading and writing poetry also develops creativity and these creative capabilities will be beneficial for students who one day wish to embark on becoming executives keeping their organizations entrepreneurial, drawing imaginative solutions and navigating disruptive environments.
Finally, poetry can teach us to infuse life with beauty and meaning in a world that might seem bleak and hopeless. Poetry births life into such situations. Students and even adults can all do with the benefits that reading and writing poetry has to offer.