[Dixielandjazz] The Lack of Music Programs in the Schools.

[Mike]

Nice topic Steve. At the risk of posting on something "non-OKOM" 
I'll chime in on this.

I can remember when they took instrumental music out of the 
elementary schools in the Aurora, Colorado & Denver, Colorado 
districts around 1986. I was a freshman in high school then and 
I was very angry about it. Several music teachers, parents and 
kids wrote letters but to no avail.

Now, just 21 years later this is what has happened in similar 
school districts around my state; though not in Denver. A music 
teacher usually trained in instrumental and vocal music goes 
from school to school teaching vocal and instrumental music 1-2 
days a week. I find it very interesting that athletics haven't 
suffered nearly as bad as music in the schools has.

In the time since the restriction of music and arts in schools, 
you have had several school shootings by students. While I'm not 
blaming the removal of the arts solely for this, it's 
interesting to note that when artistic outlet is reduced the 
more aggression that is shown by kids. These aren't my words but 
there has been many studies done on this.

Mike






Steve Barbone wrote:
> Following is excerpted from the 2007 Commencement address at Stanford
> University, given by Dana Gioia, the Chairman of the NEA. (National
> Endowment for the Arts). Interesting viewpoint which many of us have
> rejected over the past several decades. Others among us have become
> pro-active and maybe they will make a difference.
> 
> Cheers,
> Steve Barbone
> 
> "I remember a time when every public high school in this country had a
> musical program . . . usually a jazz band too. . . These p[rograms are no
> longer widely available to the new generation. This once visionary and
> democratic system has been almost entirely dismantled by well-meaning but
> myopic school boards, county and state officials, with the Federal
> Government largely indifferent to the issue. 50 million students have paid
> the price. . ."
> 
> "Why have we experienced this colossal cultural and political decline? There
> are several reasons, but I must risk offending many friends and colleagues
> by saying that surely artists and intellectuals are partly to blame. Most .
> . . have lost their ability to converse with the rest of society. We have
> become wonderfully expert in talking to one another, but have become almost
> invisible and inaudible in the general culture. . . If we could reopen the
> conversation . . ., the results would not only transform society but also
> artistic and intellectual life."