I am and have always been science-minded. I like to say I think in black and white; I like the concrete, the absolute. I am not, on the other hand, a huge fan of the grey area or the subjective. I do, however, have an intense appreciation for the humanities, from languages to music to performance and art. Simply stated, it helps us understand how others feel and express themselves. They help us put words to ideas and concepts that we have not yet been able to describe. They help us understand the human condition, and as an aspiring physician, I couldn't imagine anything more important. And I couldn't be more adamant about the importance of kids learning to love the humanities from a young age.
Children learn from example, and for this reason, it is important for adults, especially parents, to begin relaying ideas about the importance of the humanities to their young children. From taking their children to musicals, reading before bed, playing fun foreign language learning CDs in the car, and taking frequent visits to museums, parents can have a profound effect on their children’s appreciation for the humanities.
When children are exposed to the humanities since infancy, they will not be able to imagine life without them, and they will have already begun to understand how their lives connect to the lives of the diverse people they learn about through literature, theater, dance, and music. They will learn that they are not alone in the emotions they feel. They will learn, through literature, that not all people think like they do. They will begin to acquire the ability to think about how learning about the diversity of people can often expose things that all people have in common, from emotions to beliefs. They will be more deeply connected to the human spirit.
This is more important than it might seem. It isn't simply teaching our kids to look at a piece of abstract art and see more than a few lines. It isn't teaching our kids to opt to spend all of their disposable income on ballets. It is teaching our children to appreciate and understand the expression of the feelings of others. It is teaching our children to see the world from someone else's point of view and to momentarily feel what someone else is feeling.
So, maybe this is the answer to our problems. Maybe exposing our kids to the humanities is the answer to violence and hatred and bigotry. Maybe if our kids sense that they are more connected with all others on this Earth, they will begin to see others for who they truly are: humans. Because truthfully, violence comes from a separation, from a misunderstanding of the connectivity between people who might seem so different.
So, to all the public schools, it might be time to rethink cutting that music teacher.
