In 1965, President Lydon B. Johnson signed legislation supporting the arts, stating that any advanced civilization must fully value the arts, humanities, and culinary skills. The United States has fought for the arts' presence in schools for some time, constantly struggling with decreases in teaching staffs, often resulting in cutting art programs due to lack of funding. Yet the country has managed to hang onto arts education by a thread, striving to serve students who need those outlets.
This last week, President Trump proposed eliminating the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities, infuriating art enthusiasts everywhere. While the Republican party has flirted with decreased art funding at other times, there has never been a more adamant declaration made, intensifying concern across the nation. The fact of the matter is, younger generations need the arts.
In the United States today, students are under the same or a greater amount of stress as adults. Between grueling academics in hopes of college scholarships, increased participation in athletics, and the desire to keep up with the societal "good" media flashes in front of them, young people are stressed out. The younger generations see what they are expected to do, and can become overwhelmed. While many studies have attempted to find methods that young people can use to decrease stress, those methods only work if they are implemented...where in a teen's schedule is there room for that? Research shows that participation in the arts reduces an individual's stress. A mere 45-minutes of creative activity lessens stress in the body, regardless of artistic talent or skill. This applies to all forms of art; theater, painting, sculpting, singing. With the arts, young people can decrease stress while maintaining the feeling of productivity their schedules require. Without the arts, students' stress may skyrocket.
Individuals who partake in the arts are utilizing the right side of their brain. This side is responsible for creativity, intuition, hands-on learning, spatial relationships, and the ability to see a situation's larger picture. In using the creativity aspect that the arts require, the other functions of the right side of the brain are kickstarted, bettering individuals' problem-solving and critical thinking skills. Though these functions are able to be put into motion in other scenarios, purposefully encouraging the use of the brain's right side assures the body that those functions are to be practiced. The more accustomed to using the right side of the brain the body becomes, the more natural those critical thinking skills feel to the individual. Those are the skills that benefit individuals on a large scale; each career path needs the skills that result from right brain use.
The benefits of the arts do not stop at decreased stress and increased critical thinking. The arts encourage students who may not enjoy maths and sciences to stay in school, providing an outlet for them to enjoy. Those courses also provide a community for students who desire to find friends with similar interests; just as athletes bond with their teammates, art students connect with their peers.
Without the arts, American schools will find themselves hurting in community, critical thinking, and the betterment of the students they wish to serve. As a result, the future of America will be negatively impacted.
