The children in school now are not getting the full education that they deserve. With the recent downturn of the economy, many have been forced to give up things we took for granted in the past. The school system has been hit particularly hard by the recession and has been forced to make a long list of cuts to their programs. Most of the programs that have been chosen to be cut are either the art or after school programs, if not both. The effects of these programs being canceled is having a larger effect on the children than most would like to admit to. Some of the negative effects of these programs being canceled are the lack of creative expression and exploration; children who need extra assistance are no longer able to receive it, and an increased chance that children might fall into gangs. These are all challenges that children face when a well-rounded education and available support system are deemed expendable and canceled. Before we jump directly into the negative effects of these programs being forced to close, it’s important to understand why they were closed. What we have now come to call the Great Recession has had a disastrous and tolling effect on the entire word. The global economic bubble bursting left a monstrous vacuum of money leading to everyone from the average person on the street to the federal government desperately short on cash. In an attempt to stay afloat most, if not all, organizations had to make cuts to the programs they offered. The programs that were deemed expendable by the school system were the art and after school programs. All across the nation music, art, tutoring, after school care programs, and more are all being forced to close their doors due to the lack of funding. As we wait for a recovery from our current economic predicament we will also forced to wait for these programs to make a return. By cutting the art programs, we take away the opportunity for our children to have a complete and well-rounded education. In the past there were opportunities for classes like woodshop, dance, painting, choir, and more. But over time these programs were slowly shut down to improve other, seemingly, more desirable classes. While an education in mathematics, English, and science are vital to the development of a person’s education, it cannot be understated that for a well-rounded education the arts must be taught as well. As Deborah Reeve, Executive Director of the National Arts Education Association says, “When you think about fostering creativity, innovation, imagination, and problem-solving skills, those are things that the arts teach” (Garrett). Skills that are developed while experiencing and learning about the arts can be applied outside of the context they are learned in. The most fundamental and straightforward problem with cutting art programs is loss of opportunity for creative expression. Another insight that Reeve points out, “Creativity is about taking what you know and putting it together to make something new and different,” (Garrett), stating that learning should also be about using what you’ve learned to make something new. Reeve, continues to talk about how schools are now so focused on standardized testing and how it can have a detrimental effect on creativity. In the world of standardized testing there is only one right answer and that anything else is wrong. This mentality is crippling to the creative process because in art there is only expression, no right or wrong. Parents are working more hours than ever to stay afloat leaving their children alone. This tends to lead to the child is lacking emotional support, so they might look to their peers for what they are missing at home. As James Howell mentions in his article about gang prevention, “The gang may be appealing because it meets a youth’s social needs” (Howell) talking about how a gang can become a second family. The article continues to mention how the gang seems to offer protection, fun, respect, money and comradely. These are all very appealing offers for young children who may be at home on their own. This opens up the door for gangs to work their way into the lives of these children and lead them down a destructive path. The stability and opportunity that the school system once stood for is now being threatened and the young are going to be the ones that suffer. Idle hands are the devils play things.
Sadly art programs aren’t the only ones that are being cut in this economic downturn. Afterschool care and tutoring have also been slashed from many school budgets which can leave children vulnerable to falling behind. Cheryl Gedzelman, director of Tutoring for Success, discusses the role of a tutor as, ”In addition to helping the student with organization and specific subject matter, and important role of the tutor is to help build self-esteem. The tutor should always teach strategies to help the student work independently with getting overwhelmed” (Gedzelman). The positive effect of having a tutor available to a struggling child are huge, sadly these resources are being taken away. Children who may be suffering in class and who need extra time may fall behind due to the school no longer provides extra learning opportunities and their parents may be unavailable to help them as well. The cutting of summer programs also adds to the disparity of a child who is falling behind. For some children summer classes are no longer available even if the child wants to spend the extra time over summer to learn the material to catch up. The cutting of these programs can also have some less obvious repercussions that won’t be seen till much later in the lives of these children. One major problem that seems to go unmentioned by most is that these children are missing out on the cultural value of art at a very important stage of their lives. Learning and becoming enthralled by art at a young age can give a person greater perspective and appreciation for art later in their lives. While there are some children who will seek out art on their own, most will live a life of ignorance because school was the only place where they were exposed to the vast world of art. Kids aren’t stupid and take notice of our actions. They notice that we cut the art programs from their curriculum, and this could be sending them the wrong kind of message. By cutting these classes it teaches the children that it is a secondary form of information, something that is expendable and has a diminished value to that of the other subjects. And if these children perceive the arts as something less valuable to that of math and science they are less likely to seek it out or appreciate it. By cutting these programs we are teaching to the younger generation that the arts are expendable. Another aspect that is going unnoticed is the social aspect. Art, music, physical education, sports teams and other similar activities can help children develop social interaction skills that foster teamwork and communication. Many of the core classes like math and English are more often than not a solo experience where a person will do the work on their own; where as in a music or physical education class, groups of students have to learn to play as a larger cohesive unit to achieve their goal. These group building skills are just as important as math and English as a young child ages and the world they live in becomes more and more social and group based. While there is a multitude of solutions out there for this problem not all of them are feasible. We are currently in an unstable financial time which makes many of the simple solutions almost impossible to apply. While they are worth mentioning because as time has shown, the economy is a cyclical system which will one day make some of the presented solutions possible once again. The most straight forward, but sadly most unlikely in current times, is the reallocation of government funds to the school system. This would allow the schools to once again open up after school programs, restart art classes and properly fund sports teams. We currently have a simple problem, the lack of funding, and typically a simple solution is all it takes to fix it. Tragically not all simple problems can be solved with wimple solutions. Sometimes a solution will as more of the people involved to be solved and it is upon the shoulders of the many to help the few. In the case of the sports programs being underfunded, the parents could attempt to start their own clubs and leagues. It would require extensive time from the parents to organize as well as a little extra out of pocket to get the appropriate equipment, but I’m sure if there was enough support for the idea it could be achieved. A similar solution could be applied to the after school and tutoring problem. Out of a class of students it is more than likely that there are a few stay at home parents. Again, it is up to them to take on the added work of looking after an extra few children after school or offering their knowledge to help those who need it. In these difficult times, a little more is asked of all of us so that we may continue to function as a community.
Sadly the teaching the arts is a little more complicated. There is a variety of art forms as well as styles within each form. Unlike a team sport like football where a few coaches can teach many players, teaching a few children different instruments so that they can start a band can be difficult. To teach a group of children about the arts would require a large knowledge base than most groups of people may have. While not at all impossible, teaching this information to a group of people may be more challenging than the rest.
Looking to third party educators is also a viable alternative. Going to private tutoring, joining sports clubs, attending after school supervision or going to extra art classes are ways of solving these problems. Sadly these third party programs can become expensive which ties back to a diminished feasibility due to a constrained budget by most. And again, it’s up to the parents if they are willing to sacrifice for their children. This may require putting off buying a new car or remodeling the house, but in turn expand the horizons of their children. While cutting these programs isn’t the best solution to the problem, it’s unfortunately the most practical. The school system is doing its best to stay afloat and has been forced to make some tough decisions over the past few years. The argument for cutting art and music programs can be summed up with Goody Clairenstein’s words, “Art [and music] courses can be expensive, since they require an entirely different set of resources and teachers with different training and backgrounds, making them expensive when compared with traditional academic classes” (Clairenstein). Most of these decisions involve cutting costs which lead to a pecking order of what is expendable. While art, music, and athletic programs are important to the growth of a child and the development of a well-rounded education, they are not vital to the education system. Most students will benefit more from learning math, English and science opposed to learning about painting techniques or how to play a drum, which is why the school system deemed the arts expendable. That’s not to say they are not important, just that in current times everyone has to make sacrifices and sadly sometimes the needs of the few are overwritten by the needs of the many. The schools will recover. The economy will bounce back which will mean that schools will receive the funding they deserve. Till that time comes we must take it upon ourselves to educate the youth about art, music and sports. This will be a challenge, but it is something that will benefit those who partake for the rest of their lives. As Susan Wright mentions in her book, “Art is considered by some a fundamental biological need, a need that defines our existence and the human condition. Those who hold this view will encourage children to appreciate beauty and aesthetics within their surroundings” (Wright). And as we teach the current generation ourselves, time will pass and the economy will recover giving the schools a chance to take back the mantel of educating and providing children with a full and complete education.

Works Cited 1. Garrett, Rose. "Schools: Don't Lose Art | Education.com." Education.com | An Education & Child Development Site for Parents | Parenting & Educational Resource. Education.com. Web. 3 Nov. 2011. <http://www.education.com/magazine/article/Dont_Lose_Art/>. 2. Wright, Susan. The Arts, Young Children, and Learning. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 2003. Print. 3. Howell, James C. "Gang Prevention: An Overview of Research and Programs." Jjie.org. Juvenile Justice Information Exchange, Dec. 2010. Web. 2 Nov. 2011. <http://jjie.org/report-on-gang-prevention/8014>. 4. Gedzelman, Cheryl Feuer. "Tutoring For Success - Falling Behind in School?" Tutoring For Success - Home. Tutoring For Success. Web. 8 Nov. 2011. <http://tutoringforsuccess.com/tutoringaddchild.html>. 5. Clairenstein, Goody. "What Are the Reasons to Eliminate Arts Education Courses From Schools? | EHow.com." EHow | How to Videos, Articles & More - Discover the Expert in You. | EHow.com. EHow, 29 May 2011. Web. 11 Nov. 2011. <http://www.ehow.com/info_8504852_reasons-arts-education-courses-schools.html>.