Essay on Art Classes in Schools: To be, or not to be?

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

When children participate in programs that provided fine arts, the arts help improve their cognition and social development. According to studies done by the article, Section III: The Arts Cognition, and Social Development, "An interest in a performing art leads to a high state of motivation that produces the sustained attention necessary to improve performance and the training of attention that leads to improvement in other domains of cognition." Because of the motivation that the fine arts gave to children, they were able to improve the attention needed for cognitive skills such as memory, logic and reasoning, and auditory. Furthermore, fine arts not only improve their cognition skills but also their social skills. In the reading, Section III: The Arts Cognition, and Social Development, "Students with lower socio-economic status who had sustained involvement in theatre arts were shown over time to have greater self-confidence, motivation, and empathy than did their non-arts peers, according to a ten-year national study of over 25,000 high school students." As a result, they are able to get out of their comfort zone and explore their surroundings. In addition, with the increases of motivation obtained by fine arts, they are able to achieve what they want with less fear of failure than

By having art programs in schools students gain skills such as, problem solving, critical and creative thinking, integration of multiple skill sets, and working with others. Qualities such as these are very necessary for creating exemplary students. Arts have already proven to help with many long standing problems but critical thinking is needed for jobs in the outside world. “ … Creating art supports problem-solving, creative thought and critique like no other discipline.” ( Schoales,2) By participating in artistic classes students gain discipline that most classes fail to teach. These valuable lessons learned from art can’t be found anywhere

In today’s school systems, art and music classes are not mandatory to be taught. This makes them very vulnerable to budget cuts in struggling schools. It is estimated that more than eighty percent of schools nationwide have experienced cuts to their budgets since 2008 (Metla). Every child in America deserves a complete education, and a complete education includes the arts. Due to budget cuts, many students do not receive instruction in art and music and therefore do not receive a full education. Music and art classes in schools are just as important as core classes and should not be subject to budget cuts.

Cutting music and art programs creates a large gap between opportunities for wealther children and lower class children. Children whose parents do not have the financial means to afford private art and music lessions have a greater disadvantage because they do not have the opportunities and resources to cultivate their talents. They could be the next Picasso, but because they did not have the means to express their genius and cultivate their talent, it never gets discovered. Only a very few lucky children will be able to prosper in their talents. Schools should provide another means of art and music classes. For instance, they could have clubs where children

Schools with music programs have a higher estimated graduation rate estimated at 90.2% and a higher attendance rate around 93.9% (11 Facts about Music Education 7). In comparison, schools without music programs; however, average a72.9% graduation and an 84.9% attendance (11 Facts about Music Education 7). Additionally, students who study art are four times more likely to be recognized for academic achievement and three times more likely to be awarded for school attendance than those who do not (11 Facts about Arts in Education 2). Despite the benefits of having a music and art program, they are often the first things to go when a school starts budget cuts. Due to, schools today focusing on four main core values: Math, Science, English, and History. Consequently, by focusing on these four main core values schools are crushing the creativity of students. Ken Robinson successfully argues this viewpoint in his TED Talk, “Do Schools Kill Creativity?” By enthralling the audience with humorous rhetorical questions, creating connections with the audience through logical and relatable examples, and by keeping a fairly concerned tone throughout his speech to convey the urgency of the issue at hand Robinson effectively and subtlety attacks the modern world’s education system while at the same time informing his audience how schools are squandering the creativity of their students

Much too often in America today, modern music and art programs in schools are perceived to many as extracurricular activities rather than important subjects that are vital to a students learning and skill development. The truth of the matter is that encouraging music and art education in public schools has a much larger impact on student’s grades, academic performance, and the economy than the majority people realize. Within the next year city school budgets will be dropping by twenty five percent, and despite the fact that music and art programs have been showing a dramatic contribution to student’s learning, this substantial drop in funding for the programs will lead to no dedicated money for art or music programs (Mezzacappa). There is

• Visual art classes help develop motor skills in young children in elementary schools. Topic 3: Fine arts can be beneficial on student’s performance. • Art education improves student’s performance in core academic subjects. • Students with four years of art courses scored 91 points higher on SAT exams than those who took half a year or less.

Having arts in school is a way a student express himself or herself in ways they are unable to in any other classroom. It is important for each student to have their own identity and have ways of letting their talents and personalities shine. For some, it may be sports or scholars bowl, for others it is art, music, or theater. “I have several students who don’t care to be on the football field or on the basketball court. These students find their nitch in the practice room, on the stage, or in front of an easel surrounded by paints and brushes. As sports are a release for athletes, music and art are ways to express feelings and emotions. Fine arts has helped many of my students find their identity” (Wildeman). There are many benefits to music education include being disciplined, learning a skill, being part of the music world, managing performance, and being part of something you can be proud

“Young people who are disengaged from schools and other community institutions are at the greatest risk of failure or harm. The researchers found that the arts provides a reason , and sometimes the only reason , for being engaged with school or other organizations . These young people would otherwise be left without access to any community of learners.”. (Fiske)

There are many ways that this decision of keeping art out of the school is hurting the children instead of helping them. With the addition of art children get to develop their own creativity and thinking style. Exposure to art can have positive effects mentally on the child in numerous ways. In participating in artistic projects, children will be able to try and experiment with new ideas and techniques that will help them develop and learn cognitive skills, problem solving, and cause and effect.

    The arts engage students who may not be engaged in other classes. The YouthARTS Development Project and the National Endowment for the Arts and the United States Justice Department engaged in at-risk youth in art programs showed that the participants had an increased ability to work with others and were able to finish tasks, had better attitudes towards school, had fewer court referrals, and had an improved self-esteem (Arts and Smarts: Test Scores and Cognitive Development).

“People are forgetting that math is taught when a child is playing an instrument. English is taught when a child is reading or writing a script. Critical thinking is taught when a child is analyzing art” (Sabrina Holcomb). There is a significant correlation between participating in the arts, and success in school. Multiple studies have shown that there is a strong correlation between playing an instrument, and an increase in scores in mathematical subject. In these studies, it was also noted that students who were more creative were better problem solvers than students who were not as creative. All of these characteristics are sought after in the work force, meaning that the arts not only help during the school years, but in work and business as well (Ron Whitehorne). Also, it is important to note that “Low-income students who had arts-rich experiences in high schools were more than three times as likely to earn a B.A. as low-income students without those experiences. And the new study from the National Endowment reports that low-income high school students who earned little or no arts credits were five times more likely not to graduate from high school than low-income students who earned many arts credits” (Tyleah Hawkins). The arts have always been used as a form of expression and inspiration for people across the world, the arts have also been shown to improve high-risk student's outlook on their schooling. Research has shown that the arts help improve standardized test scores like the ACT or SAT (Tyleah Hawkins).People who support the arts believe that quality art education can help engage at-risk students in ways that other subjects such as math, science, or reading cannot. This is why it is believed that the arts are a key tool in the prevention of high-school dropout. There are many studies that point to a lower dropout rate for students who participate in

With the utilization of visual and performing arts, students can begin to enhance their personal growth. By producing original works, enjoying the time spent on the piece of art, and having a sense of pride in one’s accomplishments, an art student will experience an increase in self-esteem and confidence (Importance). A child who receives praise for their art work from parents and teachers will most likely be more positive in their artistic abilities. For example, when a child brings a painting home to his parents and his parents react with smiles, cheers and display the picture on the refrigerator, the student will in turn feel very proud of his accomplishments. This newly found self-esteem and confidence often expands into other subjects at school to the overall benefit of the individual. Participating in art is also a way for students to

Students who attend private school benefit from the exposure to extracurricular activities. A typical feature of private schools is the provision of special programs in the field of art, music , drama and sports. In 2002, Deasy, concluded that taking up any form of art improves conditional reasoning and spatial reasoning. It also aids in problem solving refines creativity in terms of spontaneity, originality, sequencing theory, ideas and results. The adoption of art has also been known to motivate the students to learn as engages the student and increases the attention span. The same study also showed that a student immersed in the performing arts like drama and music or fine arts like painting indicated a personal development in terms of increased self-confidence, collaboration, tolerance and conflict resolution. Private schools also have impressive athletic facilities and instruments for the music classes. Most public schools are not able to afford a drama class or violin class due to the lack of funding by the public. Devoiding a student of activities that help them balance an academic workload pushes them towards skipping school and being unenthusiastic of school work. Getting a child involved in any kind of art keeps them in school thereby increasing the attendance rate.