Should Schools Offer Music Education

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,

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

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

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

Think back to your primary and secondary school years. Do you remember going to music classes? Learning how to pluck out simple songs on the piano, a xylophone, or a recorder; or learning how to sing out a catchy tune? Did you have as much fun as I remember having? This fun is about to come to an end for the coming generations. Public schools are beginning to cut music programs from their budgets altogether, so our children may never know the sweet solace of scratching out a simple song. Generally, music programs-- as well as fine arts as a whole-- at the primary and secondary levels are depicted as mere extracurricular activities that are only found appealing to specific types of students and, thus, hold no real purpose or benefit. It has

First, When children play an instrument "he or she [develops] key brain [functions] that enhance musical learning but also academic and social skills which [...] [improve] memory and the ability to differentiate sounds and speech". As a result, this could mean that students who do not play a musical instrument will be lacking an important aspect that instrument playing students do have. Second, music has done so much that "research has proven that access to a quality music education engages students in the classroom and increases graduation rates". Participating with an instrument can ultimately help students perform better in an academic setting which can take students very far in life. Lastly, Public polls in America show that " 89% of principals feel that a high-quality music education program contributes to their school achieving higher graduation rates".

Many parents and administrators believe that music is just a waste of time and doesn 't help a student academically. It has been stated and shown in media of all sorts that music doesn’t help kids academically and is only a distraction with potentially harmful effects. For example, in John McDaniel’s words on the negative effects of music in school,:

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

Music is an amazing thing. Many people can make music in many different ways and it is

A final way that schools could allow music to be a bigger part of their day would be making time for students to just listen to music and relax. This can take a large amount of the stress of a day at school off of them and they will be able to focus and learn better by simply being more relaxed. A fourth way is to make it a requirement for students to take some type of music class in order to graduate. If music is required, all students will have to take it for at least a year or semester and see many of the benefits that can come from it. If they really enjoy the class, they will probably continue to take it and keep performing well in other subjects too. As all of these examples show, one can clearly see that music can be introduced into schools in multiple different ways. Schools should really consider trying and using some of these techniques in order to improve the learning environment for their students and help them to perform at higher academic levels. If students are earning better grades, it represents schools well and shows that they are doing a good job of teaching their

In the article Superintendents Speak up for Music Education by Karen Cross, it was all about how the superintendents in four different districts viewed the music program. The four districts that they focused on were Fort Bend ISD, Dripping Springs ISD, Klein ISD, and Mesquite ISD. This article was more in an interview format, every superintended was asked the same question. The four of them seemed to agree on one thing, that is the importance of having a music program in the schools. When asked about some of the benefits that students attain from being in a music program, they all agreed that it helps them develop life skills. The music program can be seen as a relaxing class by many students. When using the word relaxing, I am not referring

At the same time, a specific report titled “School Art Programs: Should They Be Saved?” by Valeriya Metla, argues that music classes jeopardize students’ futures by distracting them from “important” core classes. However, as other research proves, music generally leaves a positive impact on students’ learning and school experience. First off, recent research shows that music education actually improves test scores. Ellen Judson wrote that according to a 10 year study tracking about 25,000 high school and middle school students, “Students in music programs scored 63 points higher on the verbal and 44 points higher on the math sections of the SATs than students with no music participation.” This shows that music helped these students learn and also helped them display their learning on tests. This, then, raises the question “What is it about music that improves learning?” Significant research has also been completed on the effects of music on children’s brains and neurological development. The National Association for Music Education explained that music helps develop language and reasoning, builds memorization skills, helps develop spatial thinking skills, and helps creative thinking.

Most people in the school system do not consider music as an important class for their students to take. They consider it as a waste of time. It is a class that is not be needed to graduate and/or for college readiness, so why take away from the students’ core classes that are needed to for those two things. Chad West states, in his Arts Education Policy Review, “In many instances, music programs are being reduced or eliminated, music teachers are being required to assist with the teaching of other subjects, academically low-achieving students are being precluded from participating in music, and the overall time allotted for music is being reduced. Because the arts are excluded from NCLB’s list of tested subjects—that is, subjects for which schools are held accountable—music has been regulated to a noncore status, even though the law identifies the arts as a core academic subject.” Many people believe we do not have time for classes such as music education because it takes up too much core subject time. However, as it is stated in the article, the law “identifies” music as a core class. Having a music class is a great class to have for the students to participate in. This gives them an outlet and allows them to be creative. This also gives them a chance to get away from a normal lecture that most core

Three fifths of the United States have made cuts to their music programs. Studies have shown that schools with good music education programs help students perform better on standardized tests. Many famous businessmen and woman also attribute their success to their musical background. Therefore schools should have strong music education programs so their students develop necessary skills for their careers, communicate better with others, and score higher on tests.

September 11th, 2001. Several planes were hijacked on their way from the East Coast of the U.S.A. to California. Two of the four, American Airlines flight 11 and 175 collided with each of the twin towers respectively. Flight 77 hit the west side of the Pentagon, leading to the collapse of the immediate area and United Airlines flight 93 crashed into a field in Pennsylvania after a power struggle on the aircraft. A total of 2,996 people were killed that day, including the passengers and crew aboard the aircraft, along with the 19 terrorists. The attacks sent the whole world into mourning, with numerous memorials being erected and the day being nationalised as a public holiday. It also set in motion the events that would lead to the invasion