Right in Front of Our Noses

“The arts have always had a tough time at school. Unlike sports, they rarely bring in major revenue. The assumption is that they're expendable - a nice frosting, but hardly a necessary ingredient in the educational cake. Being able to spell and calculate trains students for the work force. Learning about Beethoven's Ninth or Ellington's " 'A' Train" might mean the student lives a richer, fuller life - but, hey, what's that got to do with earning a nickel?” (Lamb). The answer is that it has everything to do with “making that bread”. Fine arts within education couldn’t play a bigger role than it already does.

The general viewpoint on the arts is as Gregory Lamb stated; a nice frosting on the cake. But what they don’t realize are the immense benefits of arts programs on the performance of student from the elementary level all the way to the collegiate. Studies have proven “that students in grades 8 to 10 who studied the arts scored better on standardized tests and were less likely to drop out of school” (Lamb). Statistics like those are worth their weight in gold. The ability for something as simple as playing in the school band to raise attendance and grades show that the fine arts are a serious tool that should be seriously utilized by school systems throughout the nation. While in high school, I bore personal witness to many of my class mates dropping out before their junior or senior years. What the educational establishment may not realize is that “while nearly 5 percent of the children not involved in the arts dropped out of school by 10th grade, only 1.4 percent of the children involved in the arts did so” (Lamb). A difference of 3.6 percent can mean the difference of 18,000 students staying in school out of a group of 500,000 students. I don’t know about you, but being able to keep 18,000 youth in school is going to greatly benefit our nation as a whole.

So we are faced with an ethical dilemma; support the arts and better our country or dismiss them as we have and allow a greater percentage of students to suffer the consequences. I think the solution is crystal clear in this situation. The government needs to increase subsidization of the nation’s fine arts in an effort to better our educational system.

Lamb, G. (2000, Mar 24). 'The arts simply saved my life'. The Christian Science Monitor, pp. 13-13. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/405650393?accountid=35779


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