Schools need music, health, and security for students
A musician and former health policy analyst tells it how it is.
The security of our schools and the students within them depends on how we can prevent mental health disorders. I contributed to a report commissioned by the State of Massachusetts that was released in April 2018. Officially authored unanimously by the Promote Prevent Commission, the report outlines a path to strengthen Massachusetts security and health of its schools.
Preventing of violence and behavioral health disorders within schools is linked to current evidence-based programs. Based on similar work done in Colorado, Florida, Washington, and Pennsylvania, the Commission identified key predictors of violence and how we can use them to stop in our schools ensure the wellbeing of our community and children.
“School-based mental health is often the critical access point for improving access to behavioral health services to underserved populations and areas.”
— Promote Prevent Commission
The Commission’s report advocates for investment in evidence-based practices, such as mindfulness, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), and social emotional learning. These practices offered the most promise to solve some of the issues that schools in the United States are realizing today.
“children and adults acquire and effectively apply the knowledge, attitudes, and skills necessary to understand and manage emotions, set and achieve positive goals, feel and show empathy to others, establish and maintain positive relationships, and make responsible decisions.”
— Promote Prevent Commission
Evidence-based
What is evidence-based? It definitely sounds reassuring in times of crisis. But there’s an inherent issue with labelling something as evidence-based, as most scientists are aware.
The evidence that is referred to in these cases may not always prove to be the most insightful. Beyond inaccuracies in data, other terms are often use, which can be misunderstood. Evidence-informed, promising, and theory-based are all labels given to merited, though inequivalent practices.
Behavioral health should be tracked within schools quantitatively, to the extent it’s possible. That would be a substantial improvement to current systems — but that isn’t enough either.
Terminology shouldn’t interfere with decision-making. Evidence-based practices represents a mutual agreement that a method is successful. The use of quantitative evidence facilitates this. Numbers are numbers, right?
“Preparing all students for success in school, the workplace, and civic life includes developing students’ social emotional competencies and attending to their health and wellbeing in ways that promote protective factors and minimize risk factors. Moreover, academic skills and social emotional competencies are mutually reinforcing, and are most effectively developed in environments that are safe and supportive.”
— Promote Prevent Commission
Unfortunately, numbers don’t tell the whole story when it comes to behavioral health. Behavioral health can be quantified to an extent — when it’s actually collected correctly. Too often, they are not though. There’s also an extent to which data is inherently qualitative. Introspective opinions are vital to assessment of behavioral health, but cannot be fully quantified. Qualitative methods help to account for gray-areas in behavioral health.
Solutions
The reason qualitative research works is because it matches gray-area reporting to gray-area subject matter. One qualitative treatment — gray area — is art.
Art therapy has been proven to improve state of mind of students. Coloring, for instance, has effects that are compared with meditation. “Instead of verbalizing their feelings, many children express themselves through color and art.” Meditating itself is a bit of a challenge — let alone to form a habit. If you’ve tried it yourself, you understand.
The gray-area quality of Coloring for Calm is extra gray, because it lacks sufficient evidence to support it today. But what’s more important to me is the amount of people that don’t identify as a visual artist. Although Coloring for Calm is supposed to be goal-less, we all impose standards and goals on ourselves, even if only subconsciously. Coloring is a great outlet for visual artists, but I don’t put much faith in it for those who aren’t.
Another form of art, however may show more promise for some. Music is something that everyone can be involved in, at least to some extent, and has more evidence supporting it. I identify my primary art as music, and music is more effective for me than coloring. Before I studied philosophy and researched behavioral health prevention for Massachusetts, I taught music at two inner-city academies and developed cultural education programs at a children’s museum. Two of the programs I worked for took students off the streets and gave them a positive alternative — music.
“The vision of the founders was to create a safe haven for at-risk youth to offer alternatives to the violence of the streets, teenage pregnancy, gangs, drugs and alcohol abuse.”
— Artists Collective, Hartford, CT. Founded by Jackie McLean
Compared to the practices that were identified by the Commission, music has greater potential to become a lifelong skill for students to return to. Music never leaves once it’s given to a student.
In theory, it’s up to the student whether or not they want to continue their pursuit of music. But I’m not sure it’s necessarily true. I grew up thinking that I would be a lawyer or a business person or a doctor — and to some extent I’m fulfilling all of those desires — but music still remains number one for me, and I don’t think it’s my choice.
My parents enrolled me in music lessons when I was young, which was enough to give me the “ears “to hear music in ways that interested me to come back for more. During my junior year of high school my guitar teacher pushed me in the direction of music school. I was planning on some sort of medical or health profession at the time.
There is some psychological evidence of tone deafness being irreversible, but I personally have a hard time believing it with my experience. If are exposed to music at young ages, there’s nothing to worry about — plus you can always learn to play drums. Otherwise, most evidence I’m aware of points to the illegitimacy of talent.
If you think you’re tone deaf — there’s a pretty good chance you actually aren’t. I never thought I was, but I still couldn’t believe how much my ears developed during music school. Plus remember, Mozart went deaf later in his career, and so did a recent contestant on America’s Got Talent. Both still auralize/d music in their mind, but I think there’s something there to investigate.
Benefits of music
“Provide students with valuable tools to expand opportunities for creativity, self-expression, cooperative learning, teamwork, academic success, and self-esteem.” — Bravo Waterbury, Waterbury CT.
In case you aren’t aware, the benefits of music stretch far beyond what I’ve already mentioned and the ability to increase sex appeal (which personally, never has helped for me too much anyway). I could write extensively on just these things alone, so I’ll just give a references for the ones that I think are most important. One of the best resources for all of the following is the Mozart Effect.
Brain
Music develops a part of the brain, the corpus callosum, which is responsible for transmitting messages from one side of the brain to the other. Possibly related, I. Q. can be improved significantly with musical practice. Music is proven to reduce, or even reverse degenerative brain diseases, though this is not necessarily the focus for schools. Likewise, memory is improved — in my experience, dramatically. I notice an immense difference in my sharpness through habitual practicing compared to when I’m in the midst of a break.
Physiological
Beyond direct anatomical benefits, music seems to have inherent meditative qualities to it. This you don’t need to take my word for though — take the words (and sounds) of two musicians who were probably way more skilled and enlightened than I’ll ever be: John Coltrane, and Dr. Yusef Lateef. The work that comes to mind of each is A Love Supreme by Coltrane and Autophysiopsychic music by Lateef.
Likewise, music is known to be an effective method to manage anxiety and stress — this is the basis on which music therapy rests. Self control becomes easier for students whom practicing music. The Mozart Effect provides more insight into this. In my personal experience, music has increased my consciousness, awareness, and mindfulness more than anything else I’ve experienced. Direct meditation seemed to have quicker results, but habits are more challenging to develop.
Life skills
Academic performance is well-known to increase with the practice of music. This is likely due to the physiological and anatomical effects, but it also is caused by inherent values to music. Discipline, perseverance, work ethic, and grit are all passively taught through music. If a student moves on to higher levels in high school and college, these skills will be pushed actively. Because of this, management and organizational skills also develop. Self expression and articulation are inherently taught which helps to develop both verbal and non-verbal articulation.
Nuance is a skill that I personally identify, which is something that can’t be taught through evidence-based practices. Music teaches students how to open their minds to subtle (or larger) differences between two things or more things. Believe me when I tell you, this makes a massive difference when students are required to operate in sensitive situations when they’re older. Likewise, listening skills are increased — and not just musical listening skills. The ability to focus closely while listening to music is a skill that easily transfers to verbal listening skills.
Social
Music gives students a positive social support system. Having a social group has a profound impact on wellbeing, including length of life and heart health. In my experience, musicians seem to form a bond stronger than non-musicians do. So as you can imagine, teamwork skills are improved as well. Any good music education program teaches culture, so sensitivity is increased.
Getting the most out of music education
I’ll admit, most of what I’m describing is merely pseudo science. But remember, behavioral health is a gray area, so we a gray area like music to match it. Our ability to promote subtle nuances that increase the current wellbeing and future wellbeing of our students can only be improved through music.
Within schools there is an existing infrastructure of music education. Music is proven to create the same or similar results as the programs that have been considered by Massachusetts and other States. As supplementation to evidence-based programs, it has the capacity to safeguard our students throughout their entire education and into adulthood.
Those budget minded, consider this: base pay for musicians is usually $100 in one night playing a 3 hour gig ($33 per hour!). Higher skill will easily yield earn more. How’s that for for part-time job for high school and college students? They’d need to get their “chops” up to par by then, but it’s which is very doable if they start young and are put on the right path. Who wouldn’t like their child to earn $33/hour on the side during college and develop an incredible talent for life?
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