Miscommunications about taking a music class

 

Do Music classes make a difference?  

By: Lexy Brandt

When a teenager in high school is placed in a music class, they could have one of three reactions. They could think that this is the most fun they’ve had in years and it’s the best part of their day, or they could immediately want to get removed from the class because they believe it is the worst thing in the world, and in some cases the student can even be somewhere in between. Some people say that taking a music class can make a student’s mental state decline over the years while others believe it can improve it. But truly, how different does a teen seem to be mentally, whether they are in a band class or not? Students in high school who are involved in a music class at their school have the chance to make lifelong friendships, play amazing music, and get to have amazing life experiences. But in some cases, these teens can experience the bad parts of a music class, sometimes the stress of having a bad director, needing to memorize hard music in a matter of days, and being around the same people all day can cause these teens to be stressed out all of the time which makes them lose their past enjoyment in these types of classes. Along with the stress that can come out of a music class, there is also the stress of having to keep up grades and appearances during regular classes. Some teens during their high school years choose to take extremely hard classes such as IB and Dual Enrollment classes that take up a huge majority of their time. This can focus and time needed for a music class. In some cases, a student can get away with enjoying a music class and still get grades that future college professors would be proud of. So, the question still stands, does being placed in a high school music class improve a teenager's mental state?  

Perspective 1: 

Evidence shows that teens who have been involved in a music class such as a band, orchestra, or choir are more likely to succeed in academics and have an improved mental state. Author Angus Whyte in his article ‘How Does Music Help Teen Mental Health’ gives evidence to prove that “people into music recall their teen years as the period of time when music was almost the most important thing in their lives. For some, it was the most important thing. Music defined peer groups, social interactions, and formed the centerpiece of social activities”. As someone who has been in band for 7 years now, I agree with Whyte about this statement. I have learned to be more socially interactive with my classmates, and I have made a lot of friends that have been with me for years through band. The interactions that occur in music help to let teenagers who normally wouldn’t be very social; interact with others their own age and find relationships that help show improvement in their overall attitude during the school day. Other authors Rhea Josyula and Rachael Kaci in their research study also state that “music has also been shown to benefit problem solving capabilities; learning to play an instrument as a child may potentially lead to higher academic performance and IQ as an adult” (Josyula and Kaci, pg. 1). Being in a music class can help a student learn time management with their studies. When a music student is given a piece of music they are required to put some time out of their day to practice and take the time to learn the music on their own so they can be more efficient with their time in class. This helps to teach these teens how to be efficient with their time outside of class with things like homework and getting enough rest to not be extremely tired and overworked when they arrive at school in the morning. Along with time management, music can help teens regulate and express emotions, make connections, have creative freedom, and feel a sense of belonging with their classmates (Whyte). As teenagers learn the music they are given, they feel a sense of belonging and accomplishment when they get it right and have the opportunity to teach their fellow classmates as they progress through high school. Friends made in a music class and having the feeling of accomplishment from better grade performance lets teens feel less stressed mentally and gives students the support system they need to be happy. This helps improve teenagers' mental health while moving through the school year.  

Perspective 2:  

On the other side of things high school students who are in a music class are put under so much pressure that their grades will inevitably fall if the student is not careful. Whyte mentions in his article the negative parts of being in a music class in high school, he states that “music can damage a teen's eardrum, monopolize their attention, encourage nonproductive behavior when it comes to grades, and enhance negative emotions.” Being in a music/band room there is a whole lot of noise, loud horns, drums and symbols that have the ability to severely damage eardrums, and a really loud metronome all the time. There is also the issue of “rumination, or repetitive thinking or dwelling on negative feelings, [that] can occur when a teen is listening to sad music to induce rumination and therefore experiences affective harm via the worsening of mood” (Botello). If a music student is already in a rough state of mind from outside stress, being around a depressing type or genre of music can cause more harm than good. Music students over think differently, there are those that can only focus on one thing at a time, those that can’t have something sprung on them and a lot more that can cause students to have an extremely negative state of mind. A similar thing that Botello mentioned later in his article was that “adolescents who are experiencing symptoms of depression may intentionally select music that can induce rumination, which can exacerbate mood symptoms.” Music can be very persuasive to a teenager's mood. Both Botello and Whyte argue that music can be a huge turning point in how a student acts throughout the school day. Music students may also be extremely narrow-minded; they focus entirely on working on their music and this makes the teen forget about all the other responsibilities that they have to work on. Other factors that may negatively affect a student's mental health could be the overwhelming pressure to perform well, and even the feeling of dread after losing a solo to someone else.  

Similarities and differences:  

Both sides of this debate do have specific points that they agree upon and points where they disagree. All of these sources agree that music can cause significant change “on mood and cognition as social identification with a particular musical genre becomes prevalent in adolescence” (Botello). Music at a high school level can influence both good and bad emotions in a teenager. It can bring a teenager to have a strong sense of confidence and self-worth which can lead them to a future that they are proud to live in and want to continue succeeding in. In some cases, it can also lead to a teenager feeling depressed and can even get rid of a teens self-confidence with the wrong director or music. Another similarity is that each source believes parents of young teens need “to understand that they can help teens avoid the dangers of music by simply listening alongside their teens, breaking down fact from fiction, and discussing the content in a practical, productive, and helpful manner” (Whyte). This quote is slightly different than the question however, when choosing a music piece students and teachers must listen to multiple different genres of music so that they can have the opportunity of playing that piece. This connects to the student's mental state by having the music learned in class connect on an emotional level with the teen after playing it for hours a day. In a way, a parent of a new high school student should try and be aware of how their child is doing once they are placed into a music class. Whether that be, they speak to the music teacher directly to gain information or create an atmosphere at home where the teen feels safe talking about what is going on in class. Personally, I agree with Whyte on this aspect. Having my mom there to talk to after a long day of band camp or after a bad performance helped me to think better of myself and improved my mental health overall. A difference is that authors Josyula and Kaci through their research “suggest that active music participation may potentially improve performance” While Botello states that “researchers find that music-induced harm can occur when people listen to self-identified sad music during moments of psychological distress” (pg.2).  

Strengths and weaknesses:  

These sources each have points that they are good at defending, and points that can be easily disproven. Author Botello in his article makes a compelling case about “[r]umination, or repetitive thinking or dwelling on negative feelings”. Using this sort of wording in his article, Botello comes up with the idea that music classes can be harmful and very convincing to the reader as they move through the article. Even though he makes a strong point and he defends his idea very well, there are some points he mentions that he gives no technical evidence for. Because of this, it makes his article seem more like an empty claim. Such as the quote, “some genres of music are associated with substance and alcohol abuse, opposing authority and rebelliousness along with violent behavior, delinquency, and impulsive and violent traits.” Authors Whyte and Josyula and Kaci make extremely strong points in their articles by giving scientific facts to back up their claims, Unlike Botello. Such as page 3 in Josyula and Kaci’s research that goes over statistics of music students' academic and personal performance. To support this fact, we can also refer to the bullet points used in Whyte’s article. On the side of weaknesses Whyte makes the main argument in his article about what the parents of these teens can do to prevent anything bad from happening instead of talking about how the teens feel mentally after being in their music classes.   

Compromise:  

Even if evidence points to music classes being extremely beneficial for a high school teen's mental state, teachers and counselors can make sure that the teen has a balance in what they get involved in, such as having to be involved in counseling. Or if signs show that the student needs a certain type of help, they will be able to receive it. So, they do not get dragged into negative thoughts that can come from diverse kinds of music. The absence of negative reoccurring thoughts will inevitably be of great help to improve high school students’ mental health while being in a music class or even any extracurricular activity.