The dangers of cutting back on teaching music in schools.
Throughout the states, we have noticed an unsettling trend. The removal, or the cutting back of music and arts. These cuts occur for a multitude of reasons, budget cuts, not enough students in the class, the feeling that it’s an expendable subject, all of these are a few causes that lead to music and art classes getting cut in schools, however, the removal of these classes has many consequences.
Music is relaxing and can help decrease stress: We mentioned this in a previous blog, but it’s true. Children and, particularly teenagers are still developing. Psychologically speaking children and teens are undergoing many drastic changes. Teens, for example, are trying to discover who they are and may be exceptionally sensitive to what other’s think about them. They may be carrying additional stresses beyond trying to get into a university or college. A music and art class may be a momentary respite from those stresses and afford them the chance to relax and do something else for a while.
Music works many different aspects of your brain, from the frontal lobe to the cerebellum, depending on how one is interacting with the music. Working these different brain regions will allow some of the other regions (like the hippocampus). Music and arts in school’s help teach kids things like creativity and thinking in different ways.
Most people are not sure what they want to do professionally as an adult. Schools allow children to find their interest and figure out what they want to do as an adult. The removal of music and art related activities will hinder students with art and music related interests. Not all students who are interested in those topics have the resources to peruse them outside of school.
The removal and cutting back of music and arts can have both short term and long term impacts on today’s youth. As a society, we need to look at what we are really losing by these cutbacks. Are we just losing certain classes, or are we losing futures?