Music important to education

To the editor

By:
   When walking through the halls of an American high school, one will, more than likely see and interact with a variety of teenagers. I believe that everyone is different and everyone holds unique talents.
   These special characteristics and person traits are, more often than not completely invisible. It is a privilege to attend a school or join a club that offers a variety of creative activities or a sport team that allows students to explore where their personal talents and interests lie.
   Like the aforementioned examples, the music program offers numerous benefits to high school students and is a vital asset to American schools.
   The amount of talent in a large school, such as mine, is incomprehensible and the music program is a window into the true potential of the average American teenager. There have been thousands of great minds wasted in the sludge of everyday life but with options like music, the chances of evoking student capacity are greater. Even if the students are weak in other areas but talented in the arts, they have something to pull them into college.
   Amidst the average academic classes, music can be seen as a cooling relief. Music classes and activities give the left side of the human brain a workout, while, so kindly, relieving the right half, creating a healthy, fun balance.
   Furthermore, music has proven to improve students SAT scores. Music students, on average, score 38 points higher on the verbal and 21 points higher on the math than the average American teenager. Exercising other skills, like music, is a healthy addition for any student, even if that particular individual does not pursuit music. Music is especially important for young adults who are paving the way for the rest of their lives.
   However, what is most appealing to parents and other adults who are worried about the upcoming generation is that music provides the theme of teen motivation, a goal. it is stressed in schools, homes, and even television commercials, that every young person needs a goal, a drive to success, and most of all a diversion from drugs, alcohol, and violence.
   I know, from experience, that music is a life-long pursuit, an everlasting dream, that will occupy anyone, with enough will power, for most of their lives. The entire nation is aware of the benefits of goals and how that extra drive can significantly reduce the amount of trouble students can get tangled into.
   Music requires the focus, time, and energy to easily distract students can get tangled into. Music requires the focus, time, and energy to easily distract teenagers from the negatives of adolescent life. Music has proven itself to be both vital and beneficial with the opportunities it provides for talent to emerge, its relief from the average academic class and the motivation it gives students that will help them grow into successful human beings without the snags of drugs or alcohol. Furthermore, music will lead to an overall attitude improvement.
   USA Today stated that "Musical training can be a big help in getting to the top of business and politics, according to most congressmen and Chief Executive Officers of Fortune 500 companies. Ninety per cent of more than 1000 CEO’s and congressman interviewed by the McDonald’s fast food chain said playing a musical instrument as a child helped them develop ‘character and leadership skills’."
   Music is a highly beneficial privilege that can easily be offered to students all over America, it should never be subtracted from the list of optional classes in high school.

Savanah Eichfeld
Hillsborough High School