Counterargument
According to researcher Carlos R. Abril, in 2003 a great number of Americans believed the arts were an essential part to the curriculum, they're constantly the first programs eliminated from schools if there is a budget cut. Music education is a very difficult program to support because the instruments, equipment, teachers, and lessons are expensive. While I do understand that many areas cannot afford to keep music education for this reason, I feel many people fail to see the long-term value in these programs. They've actually been found to improve academics, self-esteem, cooperation, and various other qualities.
One of the main qualities that adolescents gain by taking music classes is literacy. Learning music, regardless if it's the Suzuki, Orff, Kodály, or Dalcroze method, helps children develop speaking and reading skills they'll use as they continue through their education sequence. Music teachers, such as Allison Garner and the author of "Elementary Music Teacher Blog" use books, poems, stories, and songs to increase literacy through their music. The author of "Elementary Music Teacher Blog" says that she uses books to better the children's vocabularies, help them to hear fluent readers and voice inflections. They will take these qualities of literacy with them throughout their schooling and entire lives.
Strengthens Brain
Many people don't realize that it's possible to train the brain, just as one can train their body from lifting weights (Nutt). By practicing music, kids become diligent and improve their work ethic. This transfers over to their activities both inside and outside of school that are non-music related. The volunteers of DoSomething.org say in their article "11 Facts About Music Education" that there's an estimated 90.2% graduation rate and 93.9% attendance rate in schools who have music programs. This is much greater than the 72.9% graduation and 84.9% attendance at schools without music programs. On top of that, to counter any of you people out there that may believe the humanities and arts are useless to you, the volunteers found that the humanities and arts actually have a correlation with high incomes!
Helps All Children (healthy, disabled, sick)
Music has shown to be beneficial to all children, whether they're healthy, disabled, or sick. Teaching music to children helps to improve their motor skills, which all children must develop. According to Amy Ellis Nutt's article in The Washington Post about music's effect on behavior, music also helps children mature emotionally and physically. You've heard the benefits for healthy children, but what about those who have disabilities or are disabled? Can music help them you ask? Well, the answer is often yes! Shinichi Suzuki the man who developed the Suzuki method of teaching music wrote of a little girl with infantile paralysis, who achieved function of her right hand and uncrossed her right eye as a result of praciting "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" on the violin!
Children enjoy the classes!
I've known many people who have taken music classes, such as those of Kindermusik, when they were younger. For my research paper, I interviewed one of my friends, Caroline, who is now a Music Education major. She took Kindermusik classes when she was a little tyke and said they were "a significant and pivotal aspect of [her] development as a child." The classes taught her basic musical concepts, but also taught her to be comfortable with herself and others, which helped her when she began school. Music classes encourage children to be creative and confident with themselves, while providing a "friendly, fun environment" as Caroline said.
In short, why wouldn't we want our children to strengthen their brains and become more literate? why wouldn't we want them to believe in themselves and their abilities? Why wouldn't we have music education as a requirement?
The answer? We should.
