Do you want your child to develop better focus and learn a sense of morality? Sure, you say, but they don’t teach that in school. Think again.
Enrolling your child in an art class may be just what you are looking for.
Tom Horne, Arizona State Superintendent of Schools, made a commitment to reviving the arts in his schools. He emphatically stated, “We’re preparing kids for jobs. We’re preparing them to be citizens. And we’re teaching them to be human beings who can enjoy the deeper forms of beauty.”
In the modern consumer culture, we are barraged with messages of what beauty is, what friendship is and love is, and what our relationship to nature is. More often than not, the message is a negative one.
According to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) website, on average children sit in front of a screen five to eight hours in a day, playing video games, watching T.V., or browsing the internet. They are susceptible to accepting whatever content to which they are exposed.
Moreover, AAP statistics show that some cartoons average 20 acts of violence in one hour, and that by the age of 18 children will have seen 16,000 simulated murders and 200,000 acts of violence on television.
AAP states, “Extensive research evidence indicates that media violence can contribute to aggressive behavior, desensitization to violence, nightmares, and fear of being harmed.”
The phenomenon of violence and immorality in programming is only a growing trend. It causes children to view the world as dark and negative. The American Academy of Pediatrics labels this as the “mean world” syndrome. Children who are often exposed to violence, use violence and aggression to avoid being hurt by others.
Young girls are increasingly being subjected to an objectifying culture. They develop low self-esteem, and a low self-confidence. They often mimic the messages portrayed by modern media and do not feel worthwhile, beautiful enough, and so seek destructive relationships and develop unhealthy habits that stay with them the rest of their lives.
Confidence and Positive Choices
A 2012 study by the National Endowments for the Arts found that “At-risk students who have access to the arts in or out of school also tend to have better academic results, better workforce opportunities, and more civic engagement.”
Creating art is nearly always a positive experience for children. The images are bright, uninhibited, and full of a love for the world and people around them. No one has yet taught them to be critical of themselves or others, or to view the world in a negative light.
Keeping children engaged in visual art throughout their developing years helps them affirm a positive and constructive view of life. The more children are taught to develop their own independent view of the world, the less susceptible they are to the messages portrayed by our modern media.
Independent-minded children are often more confident, less prone to bullying, are more focused, and are more humane than those that go with the flow. They are better equipped to reason and judge the content to which they are exposed in a more rational manner.
Confidence allows children to gauge their relationships more constructively. They are better able to communicate their emotions and deal with them in healthier ways.
Boosts Cognitive Skills
Not only does art education helps the child grow as a person, if you want your child to succeed in school, arts education has been shown to produce higher scores in all other subjects.
A study conducted at WestEd, Arizona’s educational laboratory, evaluated eight elementary schools in Tucson with similar demographics. Four of the curriculums had a rich arts program and four had just a regular program.
Noting the revival of the arts in children’s curriculum, and the improved academic achievement and test scores, Tom Horne stated, “The study showed the schools with the rich arts program were way ahead in their academic scores. It had a special resonance for our Latino kids who were 55 percent higher in their language scores.”
Children engaging in the arts benefit from a greater aptitude for life and learning, and are grounded in in a wholesome way.
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