Essay On Cutting Arts Programs

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The Rant – Budget Cuts Result in Cutting Arts Programs
CPW 4U0 – Potyrala
Ashiya Singh
Many people fail to appreciate the benefits the Arts have on children, which is why school boards have a tendency to lean towards cutting the arts programs when budget cuts come into play. Not the Sports teams, not the field trips, and not the lab fees for the science classes; the Arts programs are always the first to suffer from these budget cuts. Arts programs in schools are essential for maximum growth and development of children and adolescents.
The arts play a tremendous role in sculpting a human being in a positive way, by sharpening one’s thinking process in order to allow one to pay closer attention to detail. How? Well, to begin, participating in activities such as drawing, painting, singing, story-telling, etc. strengthens the synapses between brain cells. For those who do not know, a synapse is a “structure that permits a neuron to pass an electrical or chemical signal to another cell”. By developing skills of critical thinking and paying special attention to detail through studying arts and music, it awakens the right side of the brain along with the left side, which is the logical side, and by having a strong brain working in harmony rather than only strengthening one side, it will allow for greater success in any desired field.
A study conducted by the University Hospital San Raffaele in Milan, Italy, demonstrated that after completing two weeks of regular practice on piano were both visibly more skilled and their brains also changed dramatically; it lead to better coordination and more balanced action between the left and right brain hemisphere. This is a crucial attribute for a human being to possess, and having arts programs...

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...ause these are financially stable career choices. Budget cuts are inevitable, but where is the logic in cutting programs that are showing such a great benefit to students?
For some, arts and music are the only creative outlets for students to express what they cannot put into words, and if these programs are cut, schools are robbing these students from the only thing they have to identify themselves with Students who have difficulty in regards to socializing in particular find a safe haven in these classrooms, clubs and events where they can unleash their creativity on paper, or through song. Not only do the arts programs provide academic benefits, but they also act as therapy and an emotional release for students. Elbert Hubbard said, “art is not a thing; it is a way”, so why do we regard something so crucial in a human being’s life as something so insignificant?

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