Every day at school, you are bound to hear announcements, maybe even multiple, about sports. What you don’t hear about, however, is that boy whose art was so great; it got displayed in a local museum or, that girl who got a superior at the latest acting competition. Chances are, you probably don’t even know their names. Now, I’m not by any means a sports hater, but what I am saying is the arts definitely need to be emphasized in schools more than they are.

A lot of people may wonder why the arts are so important, or why they need to be considered in school at all.

A lot of people don’t know this, but being involved in the arts can actually improve social skills. A study conducted by the National Assembly of State Arts Assembly concluded that; “Certain arts activities can play a key role in the development of self-confidence, collaboration, empathy, and social tolerance.” To some people, this may not seem like a huge deal but, especially in today’s society, social skills are extremely important. Even in the workforce, there are going to be many times where you will have to interact with people and the important thing is that you have the skills necessary to be able to handle those situations. You can’t be trapped in a bubble forever.

Being involved in the arts not only improves social skills, it improves academic performance as well. An article written by USA Today found that; “Notions that the arts are just frivolous add-ons to a serious education couldn’t be further from the truth. School children exposed to drama, music and dance may have an easier time mastering reading, writing, and math than those who focus solely on education.” Now tell me, what parent could honestly say that they don’t want their child to do well in school? Even if your child has no interest in going to college, you need a basic foundation to survive and have a competitive edge in the work force and, maybe, having at least a basic background in the arts could help with that.

Sooner or later, you will graduate from school, that is imminent and a lot of people have a pretty good idea of what their interests are and what they are passionate about. For some people, that might be sports. But, let’s face it; many athlete’s careers are finished by their 30’s. Your body just gets to a point where it can’t take any more injuries. If you chose to have a career in the arts, however, you really don’t have to worry about that. There are plenty of performers who are well past their 30’s and are still getting to do what they love every day. Just look at Betty White, she’s 92 years old and is still a working actress. What athlete could ever say that?

I know that not everyone is as passionate about the arts as I am. There’s always going to people who don’t truly appreciate it. Every artist you’ve listened to or artists whose paintings you’ve come across was once a student who probably was in a high school art or chorus program. Without influential teacher’s guidance, they probably would have never realized their full potential and their work probably never would’ve made it out into the world for us to discover.