Partaking in various courses related to the arts has been at risk for years now due to budget cuts and strict curriculum. Schools are forced into focusing on grades and test scores instead of placing an importance on art education. Funding has begun to go towards more essential courses such as math and science deprioritizing supplies needed for Visual Arts or Music. However, a plethora of evidence has suggested that participating in an arts course is beneficial towards a child's development. The arts allow children to improve different skills as well as gain exposure to worldly issues. Conserving the arts throughout youth education is beneficial to children's development and essential to the success of the education system.

Teaching the arts throughout education gives children a more global perspective learning more about cultures and customs different from their own. Children from all backgrounds are able to take part in the arts. Those who come from financially challenged backgrounds and those from wealthy backgrounds can both express who they are through their own creativity. Many school districts who place little importance on the arts do so because the arts are financially straining on their budget and they need to place more of an importance on raising test scores. In reality however, the arts “have been shown to improve motivation, concentration, [and] confidence” throughout the classroom; this in itself has raised test scores (Heal). The expenses of the arts are used to justify why they’re being cut from school programs but a plethora of evidence has come out in defense of the arts. Art students are more likely to score higher on standardized tests such as the ACT and 55% more likely to attend a post-secondary school after high school. Teaching various forms of art — such as through music, paintings, or literature — allowing for children to experience windows into other cultures and environments. This prepares them for life outside school as well as teaches them to be empathetic and compassionate towards other situations that vary from theirs.

The arts create an equal opportunity for all children to master certain skills and channel their emotions into different pieces of work. Involving students in the arts has had a positive impact on physical and cognitive development as well as exposes them to social/emotional learning situations. Being exposed to the arts at such a young age sets the foundation for skills they will need in the future such as their fine motor skills. Participating in artistic activities gives students the opportunity to advance their hand eye coordination, dexterity, and controlled movements. For example, coloring inside the lines requires children to be observant and have control over their hand movement. Observing physical art teaches children “[i]mportant concepts such as symbolism and abstraction” it can also teach “pattern recognition and visual spatial skills' ' all of which are concepts used inside the classroom (Harris). Having a good understanding of these at a young age prepares students for future academic success as these are used in the more core subjects such as math and english. Challenging children to create new forms of art exposes them to their likes and dislikes as well as what they’re good at versus what they’re not. Finding things that they’re good at “helps increase a child’s self-esteem and confidence” because it allows them to master certain skills (Heal). It also allows them to find that there is no certain way to do art, rather it is a creative outlet to express their developing personalities.

Though evidence suggests that children benefit from being in creative environments, schools have gradually been cutting funding for arts programs. Participating in the arts is essential to a child’s development by helping craft children's individuality and imagination. The arts also allow for children to gain a more worldly perspective and give them the opportunity to improve their physical, cognitive, and social skills while participating in an activity they enjoy.

Works Cited

“Benefits of Art & Art History for Early Childhood Learning.” Children's Museum Pitsburgh,

1 Jan. 2021,pittsburghkids.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Art_Sparks

___Art_Voyage_Benefits.pdf.

Harris, Kathleen M. “Arts Education and Positive Youth Development.” Arts Works., Eunice

Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development,

www.arts.gov/sites/default/files/Research-Art-Works-Maryland.pdf.

Heal, Stephen. “The Importance of Art Education in the Classroom - UF Online.” Online Master's

in Art Education Program at UF, University of Florida, 9 Feb. 2023, arteducation

masters.arts.ufl.edu/articles/importance-of-art-education/.