Have you ever thought of it from another person's view point? Have you ever took the time to realize that what you’re doing is hurting them? It the inconsiderate people in our world that make it so hard for us to get along. By removing the art programs from our schools you’re really hurting all the kids involved with it. If you’re having a hard time understanding the point I’m trying to get at, think of it like this; imagine losing an arm, or a leg, maybe a hand, or even a finger or two. That arm you lost? That’s the art program to us. The leg? The music program. The hand? That would be the creative writing sections. Now what about the fingers? Try dance, and all of the other activities out there that need personal representation. Last but not least, that other finger. Dramatics. People need to realize that if these programs are cut out of our systems, we won’t be a whole person anymore. Many times, the art programs are the one true place where some kids can go and have fun, but also at the same time learn and be accepted. There are so many reasons on why the arts need to stay in schools that it’s ridiculous. People don’t understand that a lot of the time, these programs end up making families and relationships that might not have ever happened on their own. These programs provide socialization, learning experiences, mental and physical help, all the things that are sometimes needed in a society. Understanding where us artsy people come from may be the best thing that anyone could ever do, because most of the time people think that the arts don’t matter, and they have no idea how wrong they actually are. Could you imagine a world without any color, any thing that would make it stand out? Everything around you consists of creativit...
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...ains. So when children are doing something with music, the entire brain is working at once. There are always learning experiences when it comes to the arts. A good example of what children learn with the arts is a gain in mathematical sense. Math is the lowest percentage when it comes to school testing and exams. If kids can learn math through something they enjoy doing, what’s the harm? Why would you remove a program that’s helping the kids in the end? The learning experiences don’t just happen with things inside of the school, they also happen to the kids outside as well. “...Arts learning can also improve motivation, concentration, confidence, and teamwork.” -Smith Fran, May 28, 2014, eudutopia.org As a nation we say that we want our children to have excelling academics, development in the social and emotional department, and a diverse variety of opportunities.
Fine arts gives students a chance to pour their hearts into something beautiful; a chance to be a part of something that is bigger than just themselves. Some schools are facing financial troubles with the current economy, and one of the first programs they consider cutting is fine arts. The removal of fine arts programs would be absolutely devastating to countless members of the community. Many students would lose their favorite class, in some cases the one class that helps them get through the day, and many teachers that truly care fir the students would lose their dream jobs. Fine arts should not be cut from schools; they build confidence, help with the application of other academic concepts, and even help to prepare students for their future work in the business world.
A recent development in public education has been the decline in arts programs nationwide. Budget cuts to arts programs are responsive to decreases in state funding, especially in states with conservative economic policies. Many states have also enacted legislation disabling local school districts’ abilities to justify employing art and music teachers. Consequently, several problems have manifested themselves, including the loss of arts programs proving detrimental to the overall quality of education for today’s children. First and foremost, arts programs improve overall performance in core school subjects; this is demonstrated clearly through higher test scores amongst students with exposure to arts and positive correlations between arts and core class engagement. Other reasons supporting retaining arts programs include to help foster community development, produce creative minds, develop problem-solving skills, aid in child development and visual-spatial skills, and encourage underprivileged students to remain in school (Metla, 2015). By removing arts programs from some public schools, an alarming issue of public concern arises. Public education, given that it is considered to be a non-rivalrous and non-excludable, is deemed a public good (Clark, 2016). Cutting arts programs in public schools, especially when cuts transpire in schools saturated with heavy minority populations, creates inequitable education and creates a serious issue of public concern.
Music education is important for several different reasons. Music is a very valuable resource for students and teachers alike. Research has shown that musical study improves a child's early cognitive development, basic math and reading abilities, SAT scores, ability to work in teams, as well as spatial reasoning skills (VH1, 2003, para4). Music helps students to achieve in areas of intelligence. “Feis, Revecz, the Pannenborgs, Miller, and others are unanimous in finding that musicality and high intelligence go together” (Mursell & Glenn, 1931, p. 20). Studies have shown that preschool children taught with music and songs have an average 10 to 20 points over those without, and by the age of 15 have higher reading and math skills. Another study showed that students that had taken a music appreciation class scored 46 points higher on the math portion of the SAT, and students who had music performance experiences scored 39 points higher than students without any music experience (Harvey, 1997, para13). Music impacts most other areas of learning. “The area holding the greatest prospects for transfer from music appears to be language arts.” (Hoffer, 1983, p. 46) It has been said that music helps concentration during reading. Music is an affective memory aide, because of its use of rhythm, rhyme and melody. Music for young children helps them to learn language because of the rhythms and patterns involved in learning the songs. The involvement of music in education can help to develop oral language skills, listening skills, and an increased vocabulary. Music can help the comprehension of language and basic facts (Dobbs, 1990, 341, 342).
There have been many studies done to find how music influences a child’s development. The College Entrance Examination Board discovered that students who took music appreciation classes had higher verbal and math scores than those who did not take the classes. (Stephens 2003) The U.S. Department of Education found that in 25,000 secondary schools, students who were highly involved in the music program did much better in math than any other students. (Stephens 2003) These studies and more have found that involvement in music increases chi...
“Recent studies show that being involved in music classes makes it easier to learn other subjects and improve skills in other classrooms” (Brown, “The Benefits of Music Education”). A lot of people tend to overlook how much music education has an impact on the success of a student. Because of this, schools should be required to offer fine arts and music classes as electives for the students. Not only will this improve the students test scores, but it will also give the students a broader imagination and more creativity in and out of the classroom. In a lot of schools, fine arts and musical classes are the first to go when there are budget cuts. “Seventy-one percent of the nation’s fifteen thousand school districts have cut instructional hours spent on music and other subjects” (“State of the arts: should music and art classes be brushed aside”). Not only is it affecting the teachers who have specialized in the study of fine arts, it is affecting all of the students and parents who are actively involved in these programs. “Johnson, professor of music education and music therapy and associate dean of the School of Fine Arts at KU, found jumps of twenty-two percent in English test scores and twenty percent in math scores at elementary schools with superior music education” (Lynch “Music Boosts Test Scores”). With that being said, schools should be required to offer music and fine arts classes as an elective for their students.
All around the United States, art programs are being cut out of the budget in public schools. The arts include dance, band, chorus, theatre, film, drawing, painting, photography and literary arts. Some school board members feel these art programs are not necessary and do not benefit the students in any way. Elementary, middle, and high school students are forced to quit their passion and feel that their talents are not supported by their schools. Although many are not aware, there is a strong connection between arts education and academic achievement. Unfortunately, due to budget cuts in many public schools, the art classes are first on the list to be cut. It is important that the students, parents and teachers fight for their desire to keep the arts in public schools. Art programs in public schools are essential to the development of young minds; therefore the school boards should enhance and improve the programs and should not cut funding or force a class to be discontinued.
Picture yourself singing your favorite song, or drawing a picture that is coming out extremely well, or performing on stage or even sculpting. Do you enjoy participating in these activities that you love so much? Well too bad. In the last few years, legislation has been composed and passed to reduce funding that goes to art programs across the United States. It has become prominent, in the minds of committees in charge of funding programs within school districts, that art programs are not a necessity within school districts, but they are. These committees believe that there are more important activities and subjects that deserve a larger sum of money than the arts With doing so, they give the money that should be providing the arts with
The fact that fine arts are needed is evident, but will schools respond or live in denial? The arts provide a safe environment for students to express themselves without the worry of ridicule. These kids should have the opportunity to participate in multiple fine arts activities as a way to communicate their feelings in a healthy atmosphere (Weber). Green Lake Elementary School believes its students “acquire a positive learning attitude for a lifetime, celebrate the uniqueness of all, understand similarities and differences, develop an appreciation, respect, and understanding of the physical environment, have fun, laugh, and enjoy learning” (New Horizons Dickerson 1).... ...
The Importance of Arts Education Jane Alexander, Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), once said, “Many children are missing out on something which gives their education context, gives their lives depth and meaning, and prepares them to be the future workforce.” This “something” that she spoke of is music and art education. Unfortunately, she is entirely correct. We are currently seeing a dramatic cut in arts education curriculum in our public schools due to the limited amount of time and funding. In many cases, budget cutbacks mean arts education cutbacks.
Schools that are in low income areas tend to have a higher dropout rate and lower grades. When the art budgets are cut the only classes that may be keeping some of the kids engaged in school may also be cut. Although it takes the budget away from the core subject supporting the arts in a high risk school will eventually help the school in the long run and help the students there learn the life skills that are needed to get through school and succeed in life. Art is a great way to get and keep the attention of students who are not interested in
Even when children learn music they able to listen, sing, dance, create movement. Listening to music draw out emotions, and playing music can be just like communicating emotions. Some people find this a very powerful experience. “ Music enriches the lives of students and should be considered a necessary part of education.”
Art education is often underestimated by many who believe that school was created to teach only analytical concepts such as mathematics and literature. However, research has shown that art courses are important, even necessary for students in elementary, middle, and high schools. These art classes may include not only visual arts but performing arts such as dance, theatre and choir. Barbara Streisand said, “Art does not exist only to entertain, but also to challenge one to think, to provoke, even to disturb, in a constant search for the truth,” (Quotations). Streisand points out that there are multiple benefits to art whether it be painted by a brush or sung from the heart. Art has the ability to allow people to see situations from different points of view not merely to look beautiful as decoration. Those who believe that art education is unimportant are simply ignorant to the benefits that involvement in the arts holds for not just the individual but for society in general. While some in society may not recognize the immediate results. Art education is beneficial to students in primary and secondary schools.
When I was in high school, I was very involved in the arts. I took a band, choir and two years of visual art. During the years of high school, I knew that the fees for the art courses cost much more than other electives at my school. I also observed that the school focused more on their athletic and academics programs, than on their art programs. We had many fundraisers to raise more money for the art programs even after paying an already expensive fee to takes these electives. Schools are neglecting the visual arts programs and placing all of their money and focus on academics and athletics programs. I propose a balance between the arts, academics, and the athletics.
“Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up.” -Pablo Picasso. This quote is pretty straightforward. It says how all children are artists and how they grow older are not an artist anymore. A child’s drawing can tell so much about what they are thinking and feeling about their surroundings. They see things differently from adults and teens because when they are drawing or doing some sort of art they are not told that it is a “bad picture” or what ever they are doing is “not right.” They don’t have a limit upon their thoughts and ideas, but when they grow up, they do. Starting from the first day of school they are taught about the wrong things and the right thing. As we grow older there are more classes that have right and wrong answers to a question like for example math. We learn to follow the steps, use the formula, and get the right answer but because of these classes we forget about the arts. If the arts are forgotten then student’s way of expressing what they feel is taken away. Which brings more pressure to students in classes like math, physics, geography, and etc. That is why schools should make arts classes mandatory because arts classes help students build their artistic and creative skills, makes them better learners, and encourages them to find other ways of expressing their thoughts.
It is important that all students get the best possible chance of success for the future. Because not all students have the ability to attend magnet or charter schools, they are forced to attend public school; and when public schools cut the fine arts, these chances are dramatically reduced for these students, especially those interested in pursuing an art career. Not only does cutting the arts complicate and, in some cases, eliminate a student’s plans for the future, but students can also lose certain advantages in brain development that the arts specifically provide. This includes improvement in motor and cognitive ability, communication, and memory; all of which are skills that students can and will use for the rest of their lives. It is also worth noting how the fine arts shape a student to be ready and appear well rounded in many mays, which is important when applying to college. The students currently in school will shape the future of the world; they will take places in the government, become bosses of big companies. Some will even become president one day. Then for what righteous reasons should they be deprived of fine arts courses that allow for a mental break while also creating positive mental stimuli? To put it simply, there are no justifiable reasons for cutting fine