language investigation 3

Writing has been my choice of preoccupation for most my life. The crux
of this preoccupation has been school: school advocates writing, but the
writing must conform to set expectations. Schools do not destroy the styles and voices of students, instead they conform them, which is arguably worse. Most of the formal, academic papers I read, regardless their subject, have the same, sterile voice. Journalist Hunter Thompson gained his reputation much like today's John Stewart has, through subjectivity. Readers and viewers know that both men are reporting through filters of opinion, yet it is their opinions that people appreciate and identify with. Unlike Thompson and Stewart, public education over-emphasizes the conventions of language to the point that it hinders the personality of the writer. Many taboos exist in the academic world of writing, yet many of these same taboos are celebrated in the world of fiction and poetry. For instance, the trope of hyperbole is typically accepted in fiction but not nonfiction, thus limiting the writer's range of expression.
Learning the conventions of writing is important, but I believe that many personal biases have crossed the boundary of conventions and distorted the relationship many people have had or could have had with writing. I was raised on the "5 paragraph essay": my essays were to be 5 paragraphs, and each paragraph was to contain between 5 and 8 sentences, I think even the thesis had its specific placement in the first paragraph. This structure was abandoned in college and the later years of high school, though other biases are still prevalent (like not starting a sentence with "And" or ending a sentence with a preposition). Rules have their place in the discipline, but there should be teachers demonstrating to students that the rules still allow for creativity.
Standardized testing and the preparation for higher education come to mind as the justifications for teaching the importance of structure and conventions. Though I am unable to distinguish between how public education has influenced my present writing, I think that my writing creatively helped preserve my development. I did take creative writing courses in high school and loved creative writing assignments in elementary and middle school. These are important because they allow (to a degree) for a student to develop her/his writing in a more acceptable outlet.
What is the popular saying? - To beat the system you must work within the system - While I don't like the word "beat" here (and maybe I've got the quote wrong)I do not see this as a negative reality. In order to improve students' relationship with writing, it will require teachers to instigate their relationships. To disregard conventions completely will not change things as much as demonstrating how conventions can be used for expressive, confident purposes.