When I was in seventh grade, my band teacher was out with an illness for almost a month of our one semester long band class. During the time we had a sub that wasn’t familiar with music. Instead we ended up doing other work in class that didn’t have anything to do with music, and we never got to play as an ensemble. Even though it was only for a month that I couldn’t play music and be engaged in a music class, it really put me in an annoyed mood and I thought I was going to die because my day was that boring. Music class is something that I, and many other students look forward to going to, and we really enjoy participating in it. Music is the one thing in school that gives us a break from the classic “listen and learn” type of class environment, and it’s hard to think that some students never have the opportunity to participate in these types of classes, when they deserve the opportunity to.

The arts are a types of classes that students are known to look forward to, and the type of class that differs from the normal core subjects that we are so used to attending at school.

The arts is, without a doubt, one of the classes that helps children learn in different ways they wouldn’t have learnt through other classes. It encourages creativity, expression, independence but also connecting and working together with others (Watertown). These are many skills that are needed to succeed, and without the arts children wouldn’t fully understand them. It’s as if the arts are alive, the classes just create so much happy energy.

I know personally, that the arts teach you how to work harder than any other school subject will. All of the arts subjects require practice, discipline, and working to improve constantly. “They challenge our consciousness….The arts give children the opportunity to explore and create, giving them a sense of mastery (Watertown).” Yes, we learn and do homework for our normal core subjects, but are we really being pushed to work hard and have dedication?

Sure, the arts may cost extra money, not a great amount of kids make careers out of music, and learning more digital things in school may seem more effective (Debate). On the other hand, the arts makes kids more happy in school, it teaches them life skills that we don’t learn when talking about things like math and science. The arts isn’t always a must in schools but it should at least be an option. The arts lift up our generation and puts smiles on students faces, while also teaching them how to work together, express themselves, and create whatever they want.

The arts transfers into so many skills we need to have to succeed, and without them we would be prevented  from reaching our full potential. They should never be labeled as “less important” than our normal school subjects and all students should have the opportunity to participate in the arts classes at their school. If schools decide to stop educating their students on the arts, it could really affect the entire path of education in our world today.