Music: The Positive Effects Of Music In Schools

“Music expresses that which cannot be put into words and that which cannot remain silent” (Hugo). During the Romantic era, Victor Hugo became one of the most well known French authors. Victor is typically known for his poetry and novels including Les Misérables and The Hunchback of Notre-Dame. Through his inspirational work, Victor told stories of love, loss, and beauty in the world. Victor believes one of these beauties is music because of its ability to create, inspire, and embody someone’s thoughts and emotions. This mentality towards music is why society integrates music into the school systems. While the progress made by each individual is circumstantial, varying music programs in K-12 school systems need to be heavily provided and encouraged.

While some songs such as that from Adele can cause people to miss an ex they never had, music typically has a positive effect on people. This is especially in cases when the music matches the preferences of the listener/performer. Dopamine causes an increase in general mood which can be used to reduce stress and anxiety (Music to your mind). By using music to increase general mood, students would be able to see a more positive view of life around them, making them more friendly and ready for the day. Moving beyond individual therapy to group sessions with others would further encourage benefits that can be seen. Group music therapy can help people of all ages work with social skills (Hughes). It is here that people establish and improve skills: respect for others, patience, appropriate social interactions, channeling negative emotions, self confidence, and relating to others (Hughes). Group sessions bring people together using music. People are able to express themselves in a healthy, safe environment (Hughes). They are able to share a part of themselves similar to the way they do in individual sessions; the advantage to the group sessions is that a support group of people is created to trust and fall back on when needing