Economic situation
Recently the economy has gone through a drastic meltdown people have lost their homes, businesses closed , many companies and individuals have filed for bankruptcy, commodity prices have escalate beyond the reach of common citizens and interest on loans have gone up. These are hard times in every sector of the economy.
Many household are struggling with their budgets at since these days are hard to find a home where both parents employed. The education and health insurance is not for everyone the premiums charged are too high to sustain (Hanushek and Lindseth 21). Affording three meals a day is a nightmare for many.
Driving a car is becoming a luxury nowadays. The gas gauge of many cars is almost hitting empty mark. Many parents cannot afford to bring and pick their children from school. The public transport has become a darling to common people who cannot fuel their vehicle anytime they please. The consumers’ purchasing power has gone down.
The government is heavily into debt both domestic and foreign. This has forced the government to cut on the public spending. Most students are not getting bursary and scholarship when they apply this is due the small amount allocated to this program by the government (Hanushek and Lindseth 33). The law makers are the only people who are no feeling the pinch of the economy. They are not making laws to reduce taxes or make education and health care insurance more affordable to common man on the streets.
The schools are not spared either on this predicament. The schools are struggling to pay teachers who are asking for pay rise. The schools cannot sustain some of the programs like field trips, music, visual arts, and drama or dance classes. These programs have been suspended for a while in most schools till things get to normal or scrapped completely from schools programs due to financial constraints.
The schools have also decided to change the food programs which they offer to students while in school from the previous ones which they argue is more expensive and unhealthy to the students also to the schools pockets to the current ones which they say are more economical, healthy and has got more nutrition benefit to the students. This is very untrue according to the students on the ground. This has forced many students to carry their foods from home to school yet the parents have paid for the food programs ((Hanushek and Lindseth 45).
The necessity of arts programs
The parents when they pay school fees or when the government invest in education, all they want is an academic achievement of the students so that he/she can be a good person in the future with a good job and a place to stay but they also wish their children to develop socially and develop good morals. The academic achievement is not the ultimate success to the students; they also need to appreciate other fields like music and sports to be a whole person (Rabkin and Redmond 25).
The school is a good place where these children can identify and develop their talents or passion. Not every child is blessed with good minds to understand algebra or mix chemicals in the laboratory; hence these students who are weak in normal class but good in arts programs should be given an opportunity to nurture their talents. They need guidance on how to perfect their gifts.
The students need a lot of attention in terms of academic and their social life. Parents and teachers need to check on the progress of students from time to time. It’s very easy for children to go astray when they face difficulties in their studies especially in science classes. When children don’t get good results in class since they are not good in mathematics and sciences, they feel unworthy and unwanted since they consider themselves useless. This forces some to drugs or into unhealthy eating habits which can put their life in danger.
But if these children who are good at art subjects have the alternative of mixing sciences and art classes, will make them feel that they worth something (Farr et etal 2010). This will boost their ego while at same time give them morale and psych of even doing their best to better their grades in mathematics and science classes. This is the greatest gift we can give to the student. This will show them that the school and the society in general care and love them.
It is evident involvement in arts by a student help him or her to think critically since he/she is exposed to real life situations a student is able to relate and apply what he or she has learn in math or science to the real life situations which are being offered by art subjects and programs. It also helps a student develop good communications skills when interacting with other students.
The students below ten years are young minds which cannot grasp things faster or remember quickly. The teachers need to communicate with the students in a language or through the things they can identify with. This is where arts come in handy. The hard subjects can be taught through songs or pictures and diagrams. It will be easy for the children to remember this things than being taught by a teacher who dictates notes to them or writing on board. This will make learning easy and the students will not see learning is a punishment for them. This method of teaching where art is corporate in other subjects especially to the young students will make learning easy and fun.
The arts programs help the children to relieve stress. When a child is exposed to hard subject math or physic he or she need to relax a little bit. Art provide a good avenue for this. The children can go to a music class and sing their stress out and help them relax. It also makes them look forward to another class of math other than feeling demoralized.
These programs help the students to be creative and innovative. It trigger their imaginations since they deal with real facts which they can see other than trying to solve a certain problem in math or trying to prove a certain principle in physics by playing with numbers. It makes the students discover their abilities and make them creative thinkers.
The students when they play or swim or sing, they set certain target they want to achieve in terms of number or goals or a number of songs to write or how long to stay in water or a number of swimming styles to achieve. This makes students to be discipline and go getters life. It makes the students to have the habit of setting goals and learn what it takes to achieve their targets. The students learn the virtue of patience and perseverance at very tender age. These qualities will take them far in life (Rabkin and Redmond 78).
The art make students to develop the skills of making decisions, cooperation and solve disputes among them when they play or when they are in a group assignment which need the contribution of all the students in a group. It develops a young generation which is responsible for each other, self discipline and a willing individual who is ready to work with others for a common purpose. This will make the students to blend well in work places when they leave schools since they already know how to work in a team and appreciate the people in the team.
Arts programs also make students to feel equal since they are able to share balls, music instrument or go on a field trip together in a same vehicle. The bright students in math and sciences who are not good in art are also given a chance to appreciate other students who are good in art but not in other subjects.
The population of school is mainly made up by of young people whose immune system cannot fight most of the diseases. These children need special diet which can give their bodies the proper nutrients their body need. Students need to grow physically healthy and develop their mind well. Therefore for students to know which kind of food is good for their body and actually how to cook these kind foods, they need an art class where they can be taught how to cook and eat healthy. This will help them even to teach their parents on how to stay fit and eat the right food. This in long run will give rise to a healthy nation. The money being use to treat obesity and other illness associated with weight can be diverted to build essential infrastructures like road and provision of clean water to slums area.
Recent research have shown there are increase cases of abbess and children suffering from cancer and other long forgotten disability like polio due to poor eating habits and lack of exercise. It’s high time the schools to be on the front line advocating for healthy eating habits in our society and encourage the students to play games like football (soccer), basketball, tennis or swimming. The sports programs which are not encourage in many schools, will give children a chance to develop physically and socially through playing with other students. The schools need to teach children not only how to pass exams but how to live a good life and to take care of themselves. This will give a challenge to the parents and the community around the school to start living healthy and to eat right.
The arts programs create a good image of the schools to the public. They show schools are not much concerned by the amount of money they get or make in terms of school fees being paid by parents of the student but they care about the welfare and wellbeing of the students. Since they develop the children not only in academics but also help them nurture their talents, learn new things and being responsible students.
The arts also help the students develop well in their area of specialization with the help of their teachers (Farr et etal 46). The students who are good at planning and mathematics can help in making plans, schedules and organize for schools events or programs. The students who are good in physics can help in decoration of lights in the school theatre or develop sound instruments which can be used by the music class. This will give students a sense of confidence and firsthand experience in their area of specialization.
The art programs also help the students get involved and not feeling neglected. It makes them feel important since they have participated in creation of something which can be seen or heard. This involvement makes it easy for children to integrate with others now and when they become adults. It removes the feeling of shyness and knows their value in a group. It is evident that some adults do not know how interact with others in the society or how to be social. It will be very disturbing to meet an adult of forty years who is shy and cannot address a crowd of ten people.
Solutions for how schools can maintain arts programs
- The schools can organize for events like music shows or plays and charge a small fee for attendance. The schools can encourage the students to show case their talents to parents and invited guest who have been invite or other students. The contributions made in these shows can be used to run these programs and also give students a little pocket money person (Rabkin and Redmond 78).
- The school can also open a shop where the pictures, snacks, drawings, albums or clothes made by the students in their art classes can be sold at a friendly price to the rest of the students. The money generated can be used to pay the shop attendant, the student contribution and the rest to buy materials for art class
- The school can also hold a fund raising activity. The donors, parents and other well wishers can contribute fund and instruments which can be used in the art program.
- The school can also organize a charity walk or a marathon race where the participants can pay a small fee.
- The schools can also ask for help from the government, corporate firms, donors to help them with funds and material to run the programs
- The schools can also use instruments which have been developed by other students in the science classes.
Works Cited
Hanushek, Eric A, and Alfred A. Lindseth. Schoolhouses, Courthouses, and Statehouses: Solving the Funding-Achievement Puzzle in America's Public Schools. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2009. Print.
Rabkin, Nick, and Robin Redmond. Putting the Arts in the Picture: Reframing Education in the 21st Century. Chicago: Center for Arts Policy at Columbia College Chicago, 2004. Print.
Farr, Jeremy, Kyle Castilaw, Katherine Timaeus, and Meagan Kennedy. "The Vulnerability of Fine Arts Program in Schools." (2010): Print.
