Should Music Education be Mandatory in Public Schools?

Sure. I think it should be.

 

No, for a couple of reasons.

It is a waste of tax dollars. I don't want tax dollars spent on education, so I certainly don't want them spent on music.

Curently choir and band in school is a group of kids that generally want to be in that class. As such, the class is pretty effective at what it does. Make it a mandatory class and all the riff-raff that don't want to be in the class will be nothing but a distration. The kids that really want to be there will not get the same quality instruction as they would without the riff-raff.

On a side note, the same theory holds true for normal schooling. Kids should not be required to attend school after the fifth grade. If we did that, the quality of education in the middle school and high school years would be far superior. We also wouldn't have a shortage of people available to work low income jobs. We are trying to force an unnatural distribution of education on this country. We need people that are uneducated to work jobs that require no education.

 

The only "music" kids (especially teens) are interested in is rap or hard rock. Anything else bores them. In Bible college, my music teacher only liked classical gospel and wasn't interested in hearing anything else. He tried to force me to sing classical gospel and didn't like the country gospel that I prefer.

 

Way overgeneralized.

I've got several kids whose interests go across the board.

 

Q: Should Music Education be Mandatory in Public Schools?

A: I think in a perfect world, a greater emphasis on it would be nice. I think it nicely rounds out an education. In practical terms...probably not: we're not getting the basics good enough to move toward elective items being made mandatory.

Furthermore...although music appreciation adds to one's life...it's possible to function very well without it. Try that without reading, or math.

No, let's just stick to the basics right now. But maybe more parents can do what I do...and instill it in their kids outside of the school setting. After all, when it comes down to it, it's my job to see that my kids are ready for life...not the government's.

 

Bingo! :applause:

 

Really??? You must not have a lot of contact with teens. Some like pop, some like country (my daughter and friends go to a country music thing every year), some like classic rock (took my son to see Kansas and Bon Jovi -- too cool), some do like rap, and some do like hard rock/metal. Also down here, you have a lot of kids that like salsa. In any event, it's all over the board.

 

In elementary school -- absolutely.

In middle/high schools, it should be available as an elective.

 

Couldn't have said it any better.

 

So, we weren't free 150 years ago?

 

If you wish, but then we'll miss the fun of someone yelling at me for derailing a thread. :laugh:

 

I agree. Just because you have music, art, drama (and athletics) does not mean that you don't focus on mathmatics, sciences, history, literature, etc. I think the key word is balance. We have one son still in high school, and he has seven courses each semester. Having one course of stagecraft does not detract from his academic courses. In fact, it gives him somewhat of a break from his normal (very tough) day.