Should Schools Offer Music Education

Elementary schools and high schools across the U.S. have lately suffered from financial strain. Because of this, budget cuts have to be made and music programs often suffer before sports and academics. Although some people believe that music is not a key component in preparing for employment and higher education, yet several others express otherwise, who say music has been shown to stimulate other parts of a student’s mind that can help them excel. Statistics have shown that the correlation between music class and other academia is not only positive for students, but also can improve future scholastic abilities, and thus should not be cut from schools. Through the evaluation of various sources

I believe that music programs should be mandatory in high school. I say this for a number of reasons, not all of them relating to music. Music programs can do so much more for a student than allow them to learn to read music or play an instrument; music programs teach the student life skills. Again, music programs should be mandatory in high school.

In harsh economic times, schools tend to cut music classes first. The current economic situation has not helped music classes. In an Arizona school district, the first classes cut were music classes (Rhoden). Rhoden states, “Tuesday evening, the Humboldt Unified School District Governing Board made the difficult decision to reduce the elementary music program…” When times get tough it seems to people that music is just not important enough to keep in the daily schedule. Current society puts a stress on reading and math. An article from CNN states,

Many schools around the country are cutting their music program because of budget cuts in their counties. The arts for some reason are always the first to be cut; apparently the school doesn’t think they are essential to their students learning. Schools try to focus on the more important academic classes because of the high testing standards they must now meet. (Nesoff 2003) This is not just happening in poor school districts it is happening in large districts across the country including magnet schools for the arts: “When Albert Margolis and his wife attended the final music program for their son's kindergarten class in May, they were shocked when a teacher stood up after the performance and

Peter Greene in his article, “Stop Defending Music Education”, suggests that public schools need music for many reasons. In addition to emphasizing that public schools need music education not because it increases test scores, but for many other reasons rather than the obvious reason. Greene is surely right about people defending music education for the wrong reasons, because as he may not be aware, recent studies have

Music education belongs in schools. If you need further persuasion (which you shouldn’t, it just makes sense), there are many reasons. Music motivates people. Once you get interested in music, you’re learning a new language and other useful skills. You get disciplined with practicing. Playing in a group teaches you teamwork. You learn history through the music you’re interested in learning about. It can get you interested in different academic classes and help improve your grades and actually be motivated to learn. Music education will help students not only academically, but in their future

Although music education does help increase productivity and overall education in schools, the decline of music can benefit some people. Not everyone in the school likes music. In fact, some people can’t even tolerate the thought of music. Either they don’t find any interest in it or they just are not good at it. People lose interest in things after a while if they don’t

This article, posted first on The Music Parents Guide, is also available on the NAFME website and was written by Tony Mazzocchi. The article begins with a reference to the recent inclusion of music as a part of core education, considered a progressive step by many in the music education community. However, Tony warns that despite this legal change, schools will need to be convinced to make real changes in supporting their music programs as an equal part of the students’ education. To this end, three reasons are provided for why schools need music today:

Many schools are going through the budgeting struggle and feel like this is a viable option. For example, Renaissance High School in Detroit made the news in 2014 to save the school’s music program from being terminated (Williams). Music is being considered a “soft skill”, which is taken as an insult (Williams). In reality, it teaches many lessons and improves a student’s ability to learn other skills. Music has been in people’s lives for as far back as general society can be dated. Parents love to see that their children are learning to play music and to hear them play something they

There are copious amounts of schools across the U.S who have dropped their music programs because of funding and academic issues. School districts that are losing funding find themselves desperately searching for alternatives to save money. (Bryant) They discover that the easiest and possibly best area to cut funding in is music because of the enormous amount of money that goes into the program for various essentials. The additional funds that aren’t being spent on instrument repairs or sheet music will be spent on areas that school districts believe require more monetary attention, such as mathematics and reading. (Fang) The idea at play is that cutting the music program will kill two birds with one stone. Other departments in the school that need more funding will gain

Whether we choose to believe it or not, music is a very present thing in one’s day to day lifestyle. From turning on the radio in the morning, to listening to it while grocery shopping, putting in our headphones while we study, music is always there. Music is also extremely underrated, which is why so many public schools are constantly threatening to take away music programs all the time. But why is music education so vital in the growth of students?

school districts since 2008, [and the] first programs to go are often disciplines such as music” (Boyd). Unfortunately, as far as school boards are concerned, music/art classes are second tier classes. This notion that music courses are naturally second tier is simply unacceptable. Although it might not seem like a pressing issue, children that are not involved in music programs are missing out in many ways. Due to music’s numerous health and learning benefits, school music programs should be available to students throughout grades K-12.

The argument whether music should be taught in school has continued dividing both scholars and influential people to date. Both are backing their side of preference based on what they think is right and moral. People believe that music waste time that can be used to learn other important subjects such as maths and science. Music plays a significant role in improving student's grade since it develops numerous skills need to successes in school. Physical exposure to music classes and being actively involved in music stimulates the brain and changes the mind for the better. Despite numerous people disagree with the inclusion of music as part of school curriculum, its educational benefits are numerous because it helps the student with their academic success.

Music education is often pushed to the side in terms of academics. It is often the victim of many budget cuts as it is seen as unnecessary and expensive. Looking from an outside point of view, most fail to realize how much of an impact music has on a student. The only loss they see when cutting a music program is that a student would simply no longer have the ability to learn an instrument. However, music education proves to provide much more knowledge and skills to a student than that.

Today, school districts have been devaluing the importance of music. School districts are forced to cut spending on music education and replace it with other important classes, such as physical education. Music classes were the first to be cut because given a small to budget elementary schools, school officials have seen that music classes were unnecessary to education and believe that it has no benefit. I disagree with this statement because I believe it is crucial to have music education at a young age. Luckily, when I was in elementary school, there was still music education and has influenced me to become a musician because music has helped me with school and work. Having music education allows a child’s brain to develop a fully active brain, since music functions the creative side of the brain. However, studies have shown that music has helped with the left side of the brain as well, allowing students to build thinking skills and raise test scores such as the SAT.