Why are the Arts Underfunded
In modern day public schools’ arts programs are either struggling to hang on or have been cut entirely. Simply put, the arts programs are underfunded because school systems consider them to be unimportant to getting a student into the real world. But why is that? What makes math and science so much more important than one of the most open forms of expression? Without the arts, all songs would be the same, all artwork would have little to no meaning and the industry as a whole would vanish, so a simple question, what are the benefits of a child being involved in the arts? The arts programs promote diversity, thinking critically and creatively and allow for students to develop parts of their brains using the left (logic side) at an accelerated rate.
The arts have incredible developmental benefits for children, for example starting off a child who is exposed in an environment full of music develops part of their brain dealing with language much faster than other children the same age. Along with them progressing at an accelerated rate they are also more comfortable and capable in those areas associated with language; therefore, this opens an opportunity for those kids to learn a new language or further develop their native language allowing them to be more sociable in their environment. This is supported by E. Glenn Schellenberg and Michael Weiss from the University of Toronto and his study of “music and cognitive abilities.” Schellenberg finds that students who score well on a music aptitude test (a test that measures musical ability) also perform well in language. These two tests are not just correlated in one experiment they are correlated and have been test multiple times isolating multiple variables such as isolating pitch (what note they hear and if the note is going up or down when another is played) and rhythm (the beat of a song such as a drum beat) from one another, using drums purely with no pitch and also using just music with no drum beat, when comparing the two tests. Age also has a large factor in these correlations, because a child’s brain is constantly developing in 4 years olds, the whole music test reflected how well they did on a language test; however, in 5 years old it was only the pitch parts of the test. This test monumentally demonstrates just how fast a child’s brain is developing and if music is a part of that, then they will have a stronger foundation for the logical/linguistic side of the brain thus having an easier time getting higher up in school.
Along with the linguistic advantage, music classes have also been observed to produce higher test scores for standardized tests if someone is taking enough music classes. A third and fourth grade class were studied by Kemmerer and he found that there was little to no difference in students in music and not in music; he concluded that with stating the kids didn’t have enough time to be impacted. He also found that when kids delve into music their intelligence spikes, but everyone levels out but that’s not to say there’s not an impact, this is only in early childhood after all. Later down the road multiple researchers found that high school students with a music background scored much higher in everything but math on the ACT, that’s three fourths of the exam! This leaves one question, why are we undermining the arts? Public schools in today’s society are pushing towards college and career readiness which essentially means do good on the ACT and take a few classes. Instead of putting funding towards potentially harmful things that can potentially damage your brain from blunt force trauma (yes, football), why not invest in the future of society by simply allowing students to purse these arts programs. The arts are underfunded and because of that so are our students.
Music does not only have academic advantages though, it also has emotional and psychological advantages. Calm soothing music (whether playing it or listening to it) releases serotonin into the brain, which helps ease depression and anxiety; along with this they make you more alert of what’s happening. Music has also been shown to improve memory in people who listen to it or play music a lot, such a simple way to gradually improve one of the most important things you’ll ever do, remember. Music can also have a drastic effect on your mood, ever have that one song that puts you down? Or one that motivated you instantly? That’s music affecting your brain and it happens inside school band as well. In fact, I would even argue that it occurs at a greater degree in band settings; there’s a saying I have for teaching and playing, “play as one,” that’s meant to be taken literally because when people are playing music their heartrate actually does increase of decrease and find the rhythm of a song. Meaning when a group of musicians play together it’s likely all of their hearts are in sync. Ever have that one song that after you’re finished singing your heart is racing? That’s exactly what I mean, the human body is meant to be around music, it’s the first things babies learn to do is sing when they begin using their voice. Now of course there are some disadvantages. Music can affect you negatively (if you let it). What happens is people binge one song too much, or they practice too much, and they don’t do anything to aliviate that stress on themselves. This causes anger, boredom with music, low retention, and sometimes weak muscles; however, this can only occur if you repeatedly listen to the same thing tens or hundreds of times. Think of a song you used to love, why did you stop loving it? You likely listened to it too much. This concept is not just specific to music however, this occurs with just about anything you can think of such as TV, videogames, movies, so we can’t simply blame music for that, it’s a fundamental part of being human.
So why are these programs underfunded? Why do we keep sacrificing the potential to “enlighten” our students with the gift of listening to, playing music or learning self-expression within these? I believe the answer is simple. It comes down to the basic core of American society today and that is capitalism. Our economy is so based around the advancement of technology and the accumulation of wealth, so people often look at music as a joke because it is “so hard” to make it in the music industry. The arts are dying. Today’s society pushes things that are better for the economy or for themselves very few think what are good for the next generation. This outlook on music causes people of all ages (parents, grandparents and even kids) to think music is a waste of time because they’ll never have it as a career. For example, I will use my personal high school. We had a significant amount of people leave our band program because a teacher was fired, from that point on the board of education didn’t provide adequate funding because of a 2% difference in our bands size (2% of total school population in the band). This made doing anything incredibly difficult and we had to fundraise, a lot…. Also, with this our choir program only had about 7 people in it and our Board of education didn’t give them a penny, they refused to get all the students T-shirts for a concert they had coming up. The point is that society itself is so flawed on seeing the potential future benefits of making money that they get so lost in the development of their own children’s ability to think, reason, and learn. Music and art may not be as easy of fields to get into as STEM fields, but music does yield a greater reward for the individuals who are a part of it and a vast majority of the population refuse to see that. That is a huge reason that our programs are underfunded in modern day society.
There is one more huge important key factor people don’t really think about when it comes to music in high school, and that is how will it help when they go to college. Why would anyone do music in college? It’s a lot harder and takes a ton of your time, right? It doesn’t really get any money like a football or basketball scholarship, right? Actually, that’s not true; music students on average earn 7 times more than athletes in college. Why is that? Athletes at most colleges have restrictions while music students have none. In my personal example my academic scholarship and my 2 music are about the same number, and I know a few that have even higher than me. Having the ability to get all this scholarship money and all you have to do is play an instrument (well) and know how to read music, there are some in the program that are entirely new to this but are still offered some aid. My point here is that, why do we push sports, stem, and other fields that borderline those in high school when it has been researched that music is healthier for the brain, emotionally and literally (such as blunt force trauma from football, soccer, and potentially others). I revert back to my previous point of how society is too based around the future that they want which leads to the be blind of a beautiful feature we all need.
In conclusion I want to restate that music is about more than just playing notes. Music benefits everyone who listens to it, who plays it, and anyone who thinks about it. There is genuine evidence that music further develops the brain and allows students to perform better under highly intense scenarios, musicians and artists do it All. The. Time. Our flawed economy has filtrated into our society and has intoxicated all of us with the greed of having a green dollar in our hands. I was there, I was greedy and to an extent I think we all always will have some greed, but music does help so much. Music is the reason I am able to go to school, music helps children score better on their standardized test and do better in the classroom and socially, all of these have a huge impact on going to college or even living in society with no college experience. The arts are underfunded, and because of that we as a society are slowly feeling the effects of the toxin that is greed. If the arts were funded properly, possibly we could see a day where can be in a diverse society, think critically and express themselves without the harsh backlash that is modern day American society. Music helps promote everything that you want your kids to have: intelligence, the ability to think, creativity, self-expression, and most importantly, freedom; the arts are underfunded and the only way to fix it is to cure ourselves of our disease that is greed.
Works Cited
Schellenberg, E. Glenn, and Michael W. Weiss, Kemmerer. “Music and Cognitive Abilities.” The Psychology of Music, Dec. 2013, pp. 499–505.,
doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-381460-9.00012-2.
Accessed Feb. 12th, 2019
Johnson, C. M., & Memmott, J. E. (2006). Examination of Relationships between Participation in School Music Programs of Differing Quality and Standardized Test Results. Journal of Research in Music Education, 54(4), 294–296. https://doi.org/10.1177/002242940605400403
Accessed Feb. 11th, 2019
Goddard School. “Music by Dr. Kyle Pruett.” Stone Mountain-Lithonia, GA Patch, Patch, 27 Mar. 2017, patch.com/georgia/snellville/music-dr-kyle-pruett.
Accessed Feb. 8th, 2019
Ridenour, Elke. “More Performing Arts Scholarships than Athletic Scholarships?” Scholarshipauditions.com, Scholarshipauditions.com, 2 Jan. 2019, scholarshipauditions.com/2019/01/02/more-performing-arts/?utm_source=SA_FB&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=MoreScholarships&fbclid=IwAR1i_5Axyc4SltatxAB_pvDzJCMOEEC1ocNNCzQOe9rxxsMLJGHju0i0LqA.
Accessed Feb 15th, 2019
Oak, Manali. “Effects of Music on the Mind You May Not Have Heard Of.” PsycholoGenie, PsycholoGenie, 28 Feb. 2018, psychologenie.com/effects-of-music-on-mind-brain.
Feb. 13th 2019