budget vs. music
...d unlike sports, music is unbiased to size or gender. Music is for everybody just like language is for everybody. Just as we have the capacity for verbal language, we have the same capacity for music. The idea that music is reserved for people who are specifically talented for music is an old idea. We should address the capacity for music in the same way we address the capacity for language. Participating in music helps to develop good character traits and contributes to a sense of pride and accomplishment. As student’s skills improve, so does their self-esteem. It’s well known that public speaking classes help to develop qualities such as poise, confidence, and self-expression; qualities which carry some significant value in the “real world”. Well, just imagine the benefits that come from a solo voice class. I can personally tell you that they’re unrivaled. Despite my less-than-gifted ability to sing, I decided to take such a class in order to improve my self-confidence, and I’m sure glad I did. My self-confidence and sociability improved drastically as a result of it. It has made it easy for me to see why “over one thousand congressmen and successful businessmen stated that playing a musical instrument as a child helped develop character and leadership skills”(Crawley). Music is beneficial to society. It’s a powerful force which is capable of healing, relaxing, motivating, inspiring, teaching, and so much more. Listening to music is not only therapeutic for emotions, but it also has been linked to improving memory and spatial reasoning skills. While the advantages of listening to music are quite fascinating, the benefits of making music are tenfold. Dr. Frederick Tims has reported: Music making makes the elderly healthier... There were significant decreases in anxiety, depression, and loneliness following keyboard lessons. These are factors that are critical in coping with stress, stimulating the immune system, and in improved health. Results also show significant increases in human growth hormones following the same group keyboard lessons. (Human growth hormone is implicated in aches and pains.) (qtd. in “Music Education Facts”). Not only are the benefits of music phenomenal, but music programs make learning fun. Cody David, a seventh grade student in Asheville, N.C. stated: My favorite class is definitely band. I started playing the saxophone two years ago and love it. I’d rather not have gym or even study hall than not have band. It feels good to learn a new song and be able to play it for my mom or dad (qtd. in Shoemaker). This feeling is typical among the majority of all students. The fact that music makes things fun and interesting leads to more learning. Music students are often eager to learn knew things. It has been shown time and time again that music lessons lead to interests in other academic subjects as well. Before I started studying music, I had very little interest in academics. Now at the end of each semester, I struggle to choose between which classes I’ll have to hold off on. This semester I took 9 classes and still didn’t take all the ones I wanted to. Sadly, the sole reason for the depreciation in the quality of education is money. Our nation is sacrificing the educations of its youths, so that it can spend its money on God knows what. Ironically, eliminating music programs seldom solves economic issues. In fact, Dr. John Benham pointed out: Cuts in music budgets created the illusion of saving money, but the student previously in music groups were shifted to smaller classes. While a band or orchestra director may teach 75 students in a class period, other teachers generally have fewer. If instrumental music classes are cut, even more teachers will be needed to supervise the 75 ...