
Everyone has a story about finding true passion and happiness in life. I found my happiness through music. Throughout my experiences in concert band and marching band, I learned more about myself and who I want to be than I ever could have in any other aspect of life. Music was my safe haven, my home away from home. When I was struggling through hard times in my life, I could always count on music to be the light at the end of the tunnel that would bring me back from the brink and give me the encouragement to keep going. I discovered how to express my emotions in a healthy, positive way, and developed the confidence that I need to succeed in life. I developed an incredibly strong connection to not just music, but the arts as a whole. I witnessed, not only in myself, but in those around me how powerful the arts are and how much of an impact they can have. I saw people filled with so much hate find peace through music. Because of the social and musical processes involved in marching band, I watched the shy, nervous members of my program come out of their shells and turn into confident young performers. While everyone's relationship is unique, we have all been touched by arts education in a way that has contributed to our personal development. Whether it be through listening to your favorite song, doodling in class, painting a portrait for an art gallery, or playing in a professional orchestra, our lives are continuously influenced and changed by the power of the arts.  

When children walk into school, they enter an endless world of possibilities. They are in an environment that will expose them to countless areas of knowledge, foster their mental, social, and physical growth, and will allow them to explore every interest in the world of academia that they may discover. Because of this freedom, students also have the opportunity to take classes that captivate them on a deeper level, such as theater, band, orchestra, and visual art. These art education classes provide students the chance to explore an area that they have a true passion for. Not only do they get to deviate from the typical pattern of monotonous school work, but they also can tap into an area of creativity and expression that cannot be found in any other subject. 

Picture a group of young students in a middle school choir. Every day they walk into the music classroom with fresh excitement and anticipation for the music they are to rehearse. Each right note sung becomes a precious, valued moment of discovery. Their faces light up with joy whenever the conclusions of the music are met with encouraging praise from their conductor. Choir becomes the highlight of their day, making the dreaded school day a little more bearable. The end of class is meet with groans of agitation and disappointment as they grudgingly travel to their next source of boredom. Without realizing it, the young musicians gain important mental and social skills through the processes of learning music and collaborating with their peers to create a performance. Now imagine that one day, without any warning, the arts education programs are eliminated from the curriculum at their school. Picture the excitement on the faces of these children as they prepare for a rehearsal change to disappointment and sorrow as they realize that there is no longer a performance to prepare for. After having such a meaningful experience ripped away from them, an exciting adventure that was once filled with unlimited possibilities becomes a bitter reminder of what once was. Who would want an educational experience like this? As awful as it may sound, this scenario has become a bleak reality in schools across the country.

The role of arts education in schools has been a major topic of discussion for several decades. Extensive research and case studies conducted in response to these discussions have proven multiple correlations between the arts and developmental processes. For example, in her article "The Power of Music: Its Impact on the Intellectual, Social and Personal Development of Children and Young People," author Susan Hallam states that evidence has proven the positive effects of music on "language development, literacy, numeracy, measures of intelligence, general attainment, creativity, fine motor co-ordination, concentration, self-confidence, emotional sensitivity, social skills, team work, self-discipline, and relaxation" (Hallam 269). Music, as well as other arts activities, engage parts of the mind and relate these parts in a way that nothing else can. In visual art, students must use their creativity to communicate a vision in their head to the world. In marching band, students must memorize an entire show's worth of music while executing precise movements on a football field. These examples do not even begin to scratch the surface of the complex processes involved in the arts. Despite this, arts education programs are not considered to be a part of the core curriculum, and continue to be ignored or eliminated in schools all across the country. Arts education as a whole provides vital educational and developmental opportunities, and children are being deprived of these opportunities because of a general lack of support and funding given to arts programs in schools.

Why do arts programs continue to be cut, and why do they receive more of the financial burden over other subject areas? The answer to this question lies in a long-lasting stigma that is typically associated with the arts, combined with extreme monetary constrictions. For years schools have felt the harsh impact of the economic recession in the form of severe budget reductions. Because of these reductions, school officials have been forced to make difficult decisions regarding what subjects should receive reduced funding. This is where the stigma comes into play. The arts are not typically referred to as a "real subject." Since they are listed as elective courses, people assume that they have no real educational value and should take a back seat to the "actual academic classes," such as science and math. When it comes time for budget cuts, this belief puts the arts at the for-front to bear all of the weight of the reductions (Lamond and Luehrsen 4). This trend can be seen in nationwide reports that have tracked the effects of budget cuts in schools. One of these reports, published by the National Center for Education Statistics, states that "dance and drama were less commonly taught in elementary schools; three percent of elementary schools offered dance instruction and four percent offered drama/theatre instruction in 2009 -- 10. Both of these percentages represent a decrease from twenty percent in 1999 -- 2000" (Parsad and Spiegelman 5). This report proves that there has been a noticeable decline in the funding provided for the arts.

There is also a current need in society to gauge the intelligence and academic progress of children in order to place them on the fast track to a career. This is due in part to the installation of the No Child Left Behind Act in 2001, which uses standardized testing in schools to determine how successful the education curriculum is in terms of student learning (Phifer). To improve test scores, these officials believe that it is necessary to dedicate more time during the school day to the study of courses such as math and science. The arts are just a distraction that take time away from the "important" areas of study (Bryant). However, as this paper will show, there has been extensive research conducted that proves the cognitive and intellectual benefits of the arts, making these beliefs glaringly inaccurate.

There is also concern about the monetary cost of arts programs. Yes, it is true that the arts can be very expensive for both students and the school. There are many extraneous materials that are needed in order to have a successful, productive arts course. For example, a music program needs quality instruments, music stands, sheet music, maintenance equipment, uniforms for the marching band, transportation to music festivals, etc. School officials believe that, if they reduce or even eliminate the budgets given to the arts, they can save a significant amount of money for other courses (Bryant). However, arts programs have recognized the fact that they require more funds than an average math class, and have implemented many alternate procedures to lower the financial burden placed on students and the schools. For example, every arts program across the country participates in multiple fundraisers throughout the year. Whether it be selling fruit, cookie dough, coupon books, candied apples, candy, etc. arts programs and the students involved have taken it upon themselves to raise their own funds. Schools are also beginning to rely more and more on private funds or a mix of private and public funds from non-profit organizations and private donors that support the arts (Melta). These donors and the programs themselves put so much energy into raising funds because they recognize the powerful impact that the arts can have and strive to provide students with the best experience possible.

The importance of the arts can be seen throughout many aspects of the developmental process of children. Decades of research has shown a strong correlation between arts education and the improvement of multiple areas of cognitive ability (Costa-Giomi 23). When engaged in the arts, children are not just drawing a picture or singing a song. They are actively using multiple parts of their brains, mixing reasoning, coordination, and analytical skills together into one complex process. This increased use of brain function encourages improvement in numerous areas of mental development. One is the nurturing of a stronger connection between the left and right hemispheres of the brain (Boyd). For example, when a musician plays their instrument, nearly every area of the brain is working and processing various pieces of information at the same time. In order to process this much information at once, the brain must be able send messages back and forth between the hemispheres at an alarmingly fast rate. Through diligent practice, the brain begins to create new routes to send information, thus strengthening the connections made between the two sides. These connections are used to combine fine motor skills, the linguistic and mathematical left hemisphere, and the creative right hemisphere (Collins). The arts also foster an increased ability in creative thinking and problem-solving skills. Whether it be dancing or playing an instrument, a young performer must engage both processes in order to produce an end result that holds true meaning. No other subject area in school allows children to express their creativity in the capacity that the arts do.

The arts promote an increased ability in general cognitive skills, which leads to a higher rate of academic achievement throughout the education process. Instances of these achievements have been observed in children all around the United States and recorded into various academic journals. One such entry "studied 4739 elementary and middle-school students in four regions of the USA and revealed a strong relationship between elementary (3rd and 4th grade) students' academic achievement as measured by test scores and their participation in high-quality music programs" (Hallam 276).  The students in this study who participated in music programs gained higher test scores in comparison to their non-musical peers. This study is just one of hundreds that shows a positive correlation between involvement in the arts and academic achievement.      

Along with countless benefits to cognitive abilities, arts education also plays a large role in the social and personal development of children. Arts education programs are very unique when it comes to classroom instruction. They defy the typical lecture-style learning environment with one that allows student to interact and work together. If a child is performing in a play, it is not just him on stage. He is surrounded by fellow cast members that are all reaching for the same goal of a perfect performance. Because of this, the actors must collaborate, compromise, and feed off of each other to bring a story to life. This theme of team work is universal to all aspects of arts education, and it is what makes the arts so special when compared to science and math. Children learn the true importance of working together, and through this process form relationships that will stay with them for the rest of their lives.

Children who are involved in the arts are presented with an amazing opportunity to be able to express themselves in a safe space. This expression leads to the discovery of the self, meaning that, through artistic processes, children can find their passion and who they want to be. This is almost more important than the cognitive benefits of the arts, because this level of expression is something that is solely unique to the arts, and cannot be found in any other subject. Playing an instrument, singing, or drawing a portrait creates an escape for children in which they can find peace of mind and a sense of self. While going through the awkward phases of adolescences, the arts help children develop confidence in their abilities and encourage higher levels of self-esteem, which is something they would be unable to find in math class. As stated in a scholarly journal related to the impacts of arts education of the socialization process, "A child being able to express himself through art is able to develop healthy features of personality, participating in the social life actively and becoming beneficial" (Arslan 4114). A child that is able to properly express himself is able to gain healthy personality characteristics that will transfer to an active social life as an adult and the ability to become a productive member of society.

In light of all of these benefits of arts education, it is truly a travesty that the arts continue to be belittled in educational settings. When children participate in the arts, not only do they receive vital educational and developmental opportunities, but they are also given the chance to find happiness, joy, and true passion. When school officials take these opportunities away or give them so little support that the programs can barely function, they are depriving children of vital life experiences that will have effects on their social and mental development. There needs to be a change in the way that the arts are viewed in schools. If we continue to view the arts as an optional class that will always come second to math and science, these programs are not going to survive. These programs need to be seen and treated like the valuable courses that they are, putting them on the same level as the commonly accepted core subjects. While budget cuts are a harsh reality of the educational system, there needs to be a balance between the various subjects so that one course is not forced to take on all of the reductions. Every child deserves access to arts education.      

  
