Children of the Stage

As someone who grew up performing in school plays, musicals, and choir concerts, it is impossible for me to imagine learning in an educational setting where the performing arts is absent. My high school’s drama club was the only thing that made me want to wake up in the morning and attend class, because it was the place where I could express myself the way I knew best: through acting, singing, and dancing. Calculus or gym class most certainly did not inspire me to come out of my shell, and I can say the same for many of my musically-inclined friends. The performing arts is my life. If my high school did not have a drama department, I would have lacked the creative outlet I depended on most to socially and academically thrive. In short, my mental health would have suffered immensely.

In the article “A symphony within: Frequent participation in performing arts predicts higher positive mental health in young adults,” Eryn Block, Mitchell Wong, Sheryl Kataoka, and Frederick Zimmerman writes, “During young adulthood, childhood passions often give way to higher education and career goals; yet these childhood passions, such as art, may be important to prioritize for mental health… Creative activities have been used for managing depression, anxiety, stress, and mental distress related to chronic illness and trauma, and for promoting positive emotions, social connection, and self-efficacy for people with mental illness.” Of course, not all young people utilize the arts for psychological purposes. However, for those who do, it is safe to say that taking away artistic opportunities from them would have detrimental effects. 

Fortunately, the public schools in my hometown are blessed with enough resources to put on plays, choral concerts, and other performances for “theatrically-inclined” students to participate in. But simultaneously, those events are outshined by the overemphasis of standardized testing and academic achievement. We can thank the No Child Left Behind Act for that. Passed by the U.S. Congress in 2001, the law required public schools to track their students’ academic progress through standardized tests. If they failed to meet certain goals, educators would lose their jobs. According to the Britannica article “No Child Left Behind,” Brian Duignan and  Jeannette L. Nolen writes, “Under the law, states were required to administer yearly tests of the reading and mathematics skills of public school students and to demonstrate adequate progress toward raising the scores of all students to a level defined as “proficient” or higher by 2014. Teachers were also required to meet higher standards for certification. Schools that failed to meet their goals would be subject to gradually increasing sanctions, eventually including replacement of staff or closure.” The act was put to an end in 2015. However, standardized testing is still an integral part of secondary education.  

Additionally, as a result of No Child Left Behind, many performing arts groups/committees became worried about the future of theater arts in schools. NCLB not only emphasized an importance in standardized testing, but it also stressed the significance of “scientifically based” research, which could mean budget cuts to educational activities that are not scientific-based. In the article No Subject Left Behind, the document states, “The law {NCLB} specifies that research should involve ‘the application of rigorous, systematic, and objective procedures to obtain reliable programs and valid knowledge relevant to education activities and programs.’ It further defines research with terms like ‘empirical,’ ‘rigorous data analyses,’ ‘valid and reliable data across observers,’ and ‘experimental or quasi-experimental designs.’ Detailed rules for the implementation of this standard show up in the What Works Database ‘Study Design and Implementation Device’ (DIAD). The definition is narrow to the point that scholars, administrators, teachers, and decision-makers in most curricular areas (including the arts) are likely to find that the data to support programs–even programs acclaimed as highly successful by all concerned–is difficult to come by.” Even though the NCLB Act is in the past, it is safe to say that theater programs are still at risk of getting cheated out, per say.  

Going back to standardized testing, readers may ask, “Despite the fact that schools were under pressure to meet certain expectations, what’s so bad about standardized testing for children? Isn’t it supposed to assess their academic needs?” It is, and it does to some extent. There is also nothing wrong with caring about academic achievement. Students and their guardians should! After all, the subject does dictate future career paths. However, it is the exaggerated importance of standardized testing and academic achievement that is the problem, for it is putting other pursuits in the shadows. 

I would like to call attention to “The Left-Behind Child.” My Composition II professor, David Hodges, brought this idea up to me while conducting my research. He defines the Left-Behind Child as “the child for whom school has no meaning, provides no inspiration, offers no hope is the child whose school ignores abilities and interests that aren’t measured by multiple-choice answers to tests.” In short, the Left-Behind Child is a hypernym used to describe children who excel in other subjects rather than academia. I resonated with this concept immensely. If my drama club friends and I didn’t have theater at our high school, we would have embodied the Left-Behind Child. Because as hardworking as we were in the classroom, we felt dead inside. The stage was where we felt most alive. 

At the same time, though, we desired to be recognized for our stage talents. But no matter how hard we tried to promote ourselves as artists, our teachers did not seem to care. Instead, they showed greater interest in school sports, our transcripts, our compliance in the classroom, and, most importantly, our test scores. We were merely numbers in their system. They did not see us as children, nonetheless children of the stage. And as a result of their carelessness, we felt almost invisible. No child should be made to feel like that. 

That is why educators must do everything in their power to keep activities like the arts alive in school systems. 

 References

Duignan, Brian, Jeanette, N.L., The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. {2008, September}. No Child Left Behind. Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/topic/No-Child-Left-Behind-Act

Block, E.P., Wong, M.D., Kataoka, S.H., Zimmerman, F.J. {2022 January}. A symphony within: Frequent participation in performing arts predicts higher positive mental health in young adults. Elsevier. https://reader.elsevier.com/reader/sd/pii/S0277953621009473?token=40F400BA9F2CC4C36A1EE2533D3B7C418CFFB5F301D8FF87A2BFA7046FCF6A319AF709D75C3087B59A9A315C558818B7&originRegion=us-east-1&originCreation=20230306162421

Arts Education Partnership, American Arts Alliance, American Association of Museums, American Symphony Orchestra League, Americans for the Arts, Association of Art Museum Directors, Association of Performing Arts Presenters, Dance/USA, The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts/ Kennedy Center Alliance for Arts Education Network, MENC: The National Association for Music Education, National Assembly of State Arts Agencies, OPERA America, Theatre Communications Group, VSA arts. {29 August 2005}. No Subject Left Behind. Americans For The Arts. https://www.americansforthearts.org/sites/default/files/pdf/get_involved/advocacy/no_subject_left_behind.pdf