Class Reaction for April 21st

We spoke of Greene's article on the artistic-aesthetic concept of classroom curriculum. Everthing that was mentioned made sense and was worth mentioning, but I have a hard time connecting this subject to math. It really should not be that hard to link the two. A student can better understand himself by finding interesting aspects of mathematics. It wouldn't matter which aspect, geometry, statistics or algebra, the student just needs to find meaning in some part of it; through a better understanding of math a student could grow as an individual and come to better understand what he or she is capable of. I believe most students lose interest in mathematics because they do not perform well at the low to middle levels of it and then they find it futile. It becomes a chore after continued disappointment, and the student never gives themself a chance to find a meaning in the subject.
This is where I start to miss the connection with the math. Math doesn't give the student the freedom an elective like art or music gives the student. Students are kept in concrete rules and procedures that help build the base necessary for their development. When you have to memorize these rules it's difficult to stay focused on more finding a bigger meaning. I hate to say it, but students need to learn math because people cannot ignore numbers. They need to be able to understand their meaning to enable a safer life. That in itself is the bigger meaning, but I did not want to hear that when I was 14. I worry about trying to teach that to other 14 year olds who don't want to hear it. We can't tell students they need to learn math "just because", but for the first few years that is kind of how it is. When math courses get to subjects that have some more applications to them, that is when students can find a meaning I think Greene was discussing.