Your future now comes down to these four school subjects
When children are asked “what do you want to be when you grow up,” imagine that their only options for future career paths have to be within the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields.
School districts nationwide have been hit with major budget cuts over the past couple of years, and the arts programs are often the first to go, making the STEM curriculum the new focus.
Many of the poorest school districts require more resources to operate, but they do not even receive enough funding to address many of their students’ basic needs. School districts that serve a large population of poor students usually lack access to advanced course offerings, high quality teachers, school counselors; resources often tied to student success but which are directly linked to the amount of funding available.
The worst funded states also tend to neglect ideas that could come close to lessening the gaps in academic performance. Research from the Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts found that students who participated in an arts course until at least eighth grade “had significantly higher GPAs and math and reading scores, and decreased odds of school suspension, compared to students not exposed to the arts.” The project also concluded that the inclusion of arts in the curriculum takes a huge stride in closing the gap between high and low income students’ academic achievement.
So if the arts are one of the driving forces for closing the academic gap, why are they so often the first programs to fall from the school budget axe? Former Governor of North Carolina Patrick McCory stated that higher education funding should not be based on butts in seats, but based on how many of those butts can get jobs. Basically, all that McCory finds important for students futures is that they make money, so just forget about doing activities you love and care about. It does not help that President Trump also is pulling back funding which leaves struggling school districts to pursue arts activities on their own time. What President Trump does not realize is that not all families have the time nor money to afford after school activities.
Youth access to enrichment activities (arts, sports, music, theater) is highly dependent upon family income. A 2017 opinion poll conducted by Quinnipiac University found 83% of those surveyed opposed cutting public funding for after-school programs since that funding was a main source for low-income families to allow their children to participate. Higher-income families spend almost ten times more on enrichment activities than lower income families which creates not only an academic gap, but an opportunity gap.
Humanities are not just offered for students to slack off. Many students find enrichment activities as outlets for other things taking place in their personal life. People are able to take their anger out through sports, take the stress out through arts, and find strength through a theater community. By cutting the arts from school curricula, there is no longer an outlet for people to express themselves freely, which might lead to even bigger issues.
If you do what you love, it will feel like you never work a day in your life. With these cuts to educational funding and with the focus of funding chasing STEM programs, the generations of students will have such limitations for what they can pursue for future careers. Arts programs need to be respected and receive ample funding, so that children have limitless possibilities to discover what they love and what they are passionate about so that their future is full of purpose.
