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Lindsey Perkins

Ms. Kane

RC 1000

6 November 2019

Inclusion of the Arts

The arts include a wide range of media and they are very crucial to a child’s

development. Art includes disciplines of music, dance, theatre, and visual arts. Children should

have the opportunity to explore all of these options and find the one that suits their personality

and helps them grow. “Professors find that performing arts, music, literature, and the visual arts

build critical thinking, observation, communication, bias awareness, and empathy skills that

“science” just can’t provide” (Art & Creativity for Healing). The exclusion of art in school limits

the students opportunity for growth and development in these specific areas. Interaction with

other students on a daily basis all while getting to be creative and have fun will help students

learn new skills and spark new interests. The inclusion of arts in elementary school education is

very important because it helps children develop character, creative thinking skills and helps

behavioral or mental issues.

Having a creative outlet, whether that be visual arts music or other mediums, is proven to

have a positive impact on the mind and help increase the development rates of children. The

National Endowment for the Arts is an organization that has conducted research that analyzes the

impacts of music, dance, art and theatre on a child’s early developmental years. They have seen

many successful studies that shows an increase of social skills and personal character traits due

to the students involvement in an art class. The National Endowment for the Arts conducted a
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study in which children were told to think of a negative event, one group was told to draw a

house or a picture to distract them; the other group was instructed to draw the negative event.

The results of this study showed that the students who were given the opportunity to have fun

and draw an image that would distract them from the negative event, were able to improve their

mood. The other group of students were not able to improve their mood, they ended up being

impacted by their event in such a way that they were unable to feel joy in the moment. By

performing this study, the National Endowment for the Arts has provided evidence that proves

students need to have the ability to release negative thoughts and distract their minds from the

harsh reality of the world around them. This creative outlet is in no way a place to pretend

problems do not exist, but a place for students to let go and try something new that gives them a

quick distraction and maybe even improves their attitude towards the day.

When students are involved in an art, dance, theatre or music class they are not only

given opportunities to improve their mental and developmental states, students are able to

develop social skills. Going back to the National Endowment for the Arts study, their studies

found that “Children assigned to an eight-week dance group demonstrated improvements in

social skill development and reductions in anxiety and aggression compared to a control group”.

These art classes are important for a child to experience so they can learn new things and become

a more developed student. The classes also let students build relationships with their peers and

can lead to a healthy state of mind. The main issue with this is the cost for these classes outside

of school, which is why they must be incorporated into public education. Including classes into

the curriculum is an easy fix and gives equal opportunity for involvement.

The STEM to STEAM movement is all about changing education and helping children

learn the key ideas they need to become successful. There are five critical skills that students can
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learn through being involved in the arts. “Creativity, collaboration, confidence, cultural

awareness & empathy and critical thinking” (Art in Action) are the five key skills students can

develop. Creativity is an important part of becoming successful because it is used in many

businesses today. Being able to come up with ideas and develop problem solving skills is crucial

to a child’s success. A child’s confidence can easily be broken down by tough home situations,

bullies and other factors. Becoming involved in theater or music can help lift a child’s

confidence because they are learning how to perform in front of an audience, which tends to be a

nerve racking indevor. When a child is able to overcome stage fright or nervous feelings they

become more confident in their own abilities to perform tasks in their everyday life.

Empathy is a character trait that must be learned, it is not something that a person is born

with. “In terms of our measure of compassion for others, students who received more arts

education experiences are more interested in how other people feel and more likely to want to

help people who are treated badly” (Brookings). By being involved in art, students are given the

opportunity to learn about cultures different from their own, they begin to see how everyone is

different and yet, have many things in common. This can also give the student the opportunity to

inquire more and develop curiosity about new ideas and cultures, which leads to building up their

empathy for others. According to Art and Creativity for Healing, exposure to art invokes and

stimulates both brain hemispheres, creating or viewing art stimulates the motor cortex even

though there may be no movement involved. Visual art acts as a stimulant to the brain and helps

strengthen it in ways that physical movement or other education cannot. It also relaxes the mind

and allows a person to focus, pay attention to smaller details and have a longer attention span.

There are many benefits to having an art background in school, but there are some people that

disagree with it.

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Integrating art education into public schools is a topic that many people disagree on,

mostly they are financial disagreements or issues. There are many people that believe adding in

art courses is a waste of money because it does not always prepare students for the “real world”

experience. These thoughts are solely based on the physical skills students learn in art classes

such as drawing, acting or singing. They tend to ignore the mental, emotional and social impacts

on a student. “Toddlers from low socio-economic status (SES) backgrounds who were in schools

that included an arts integration program had more positive emotional expression and improved

emotional regulation over the course of the school year when compared to a control group of low

SES toddlers” (National Endowment for the Arts). Another main problem that is discussed are

finances and the equity gap.

According to NeaToday, “Economically-disadvantaged students simply do not have the

same access to the diverse learning experiences”. This means, if a child lives in an impoverished

area of town and goes to a high poverty school, they will not have as much access to art

education. As this problem has become more relevant, there have been organizations such as the

National Education Association that are working to make sure every student has the opportunity

to become involved in the arts.

The arts are more than simply drawing or acting; they are meant to give children the

opportunity to learn new skills and become more developed. Being involved in a dance class or

an art class can help students learn to control their moods and help their mental development.

Creative thinking skills are also developed when a child is involved in the arts, they are given the

chance to work with other students to think of creative solutions to problems. “Arts participation

is related to behaviors that contribute to the health of civil society, such as increased civic

engagement, greater social tolerance, and reductions in other-regarding behavior” (Brookings).

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Children being involved in art at a young age is very important because they are able to form and

develop skills they will need to use in the future. The economic side of the issue can be

problematic, however, the outcome of including art in school outways the cost. Incorporating art

into elementary school curriculum is essential to the development of a child's mind and their

ability to see the world around them with empathy and an open mind.

Work Cited

Gifford, Sally. “Arts and Early Childhood Development Focus of New NEA Research.”

NEA, 19 Dec. 2015, www.arts.gov/news/2015/arts-and-early-childhood-development-

focus-new-nea-research
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Kisida, Brian, and Daniel H. Bowen. “New Evidence of the Benefits of Arts Education.”

Brookings, Brookings, 12 Feb. 2019.

https://www.brookings.edu/blog/brown-center-chalkboard/2019/02/12/new-evidence-of-

the-benefits-of-arts-education/

“Special Report on Art and The Brain.” Art & Creativity for Healing, 2017,

www.art4healing.org/special-report-art-and-the-

brain/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIg8C03uXV5QIVR18NCh3VUA4fEAAYASAAEgIET_D_B

wE.

Walker, Tim. “The Good and Bad News About Arts Education in U.S. Schools.” NEA

Today, 28 Oct. 2015, neatoday.org/2012/04/05/the-good-and-bad-news-about-arts-

education-in-u-s-schools-2/.

“Why Is Arts Education Important for 21st-Century Learning? 5 Reasons to Go from

STEM to STEAM.” Art in Action, artinaction.org/resource/arts-education-important-21st-

century-learning-5-reasons-go-stem-steam/.