As important as the core classes like math, science, English and history are in high school, music courses are just as crucial to the student’s learning experience. Most kids that are attending high school honestly just don’t enjoy being there because of all the pressure put on them to succeed but a lot of students do enjoy music and the arts so why wouldn’t schools want their students to at least have something to look forward to coming into their school day. Luckily, Pat-Med doesn’t have this problem  but many schools around the U.S., and the world for that matter, have been struggling financially to keep their music and arts programs running smoothly.

Whenever a school has some sort of budget cuts, it’s usually the music and art programs to fall first before any main courses, which is logical but to deprive children of a class that they love to participate in and a class where they have fun, not that you can’t have fun in math class but generally the population of kids will most likely want to go to their art classes more than their world history class.

A 2007 study by Christopher Johnson showed that schools that had successful music programs outperformed schools with low-quality music programs or no programs, with 22 percent higher scores in English and 20 percent higher scores in math. There are plenty of other statistics that are created regarding this topic but this study alone really shows how impactful and beneficial the music programs are in students lives academically and mentally since music has been proven by Bradt & Dileo (in 2009) that states that music helps to reduce blood pressure, heart rate, and anxiety; granted, this study was done on patients who are suffering from heart disease but if it works on them it can probably work on healthy kids in school.

Schools get into tight spots regarding money and have to cut some areas to save programs, it’s understandable and just but keeping music programs alive in schools is essential for the happiness and academic survival of many students attending.