We Are Losing the Arts

Do you remember your high school music and arts programs? What were they like? Did they have a strong representation within the student body? How were they treated by the administration? I remember mine quite well. My high school had some of the strongest music and arts programs in our district. Yet, the student body and the administration did not like the music and arts programs.

Our choirs, bands, and orchestra always performed well. Entrance into the top choir, band, and the orchestra was competitive, and many people who tried out did not make it into the highest group, but they usually made it into a group. Concerts were always sold out and the community enjoyed the performances. The top choir would even perform at churches in the community and was always well accepted. The top band and orchestra would perform at local district performances with other bands and orchestras as well as individual performances. We also had many art classes, from drawing to painting to sculpting to woodworking and metalworking. Students enjoyed those classes and their creations would be displayed in publications within the school. There were no problems between students other classes and the students in music and arts classes.

Still, the student body looked down upon the music and arts programs. They never liked the directors or teachers and they didn't want anything to do with them. If there was a rehearsal going on and it interrupted certain things that happened everyday, like taking over space that could be used during students' free time, they would complain and became more vocal about it over time, even though it was only a few times per year. Students would complain in other classes that the music and arts classes were interrupting with where they could spend their open hour or that they had to go to class while the music students had a rehearsal the day of their concert and missed class. The other students didn't realize what needs to be put into a music class to make a performance a success. I would say that they have little experience performing in front of an audience in a non-physical way or have not performed in front

What is worse is how the administration treated the music and arts programs. If a sports team became a little too rowdy at a game or caused damage in the locker rooms they would just have the coaches talk to the sports team and that was that. But if anything happened in the music or arts areas, even leaving a little trash on the floor or a scratch in the wall, the principle would come in and talk to the class and take away certain "privileges" that the class had, like coming in during an open hour or during lunch to work on a music piece or their artwork.

What is happening to cause this? Are parents pushing that sports are more important than music and art and that people who participate in sports are doing something more worthwhile? Somewhere we are losing the desire for creativity and increasing the desire for physical competition. Without creativity we will lose new music artists and songs, new instrumental compositions, and new television cartoons in the future. Is this what we want for the future? We need to encourage music and art more. Don't lose sports, but increase the amount of focus on music and art.