Perhaps the subject of study that allows the most freedom and flexibility are within the arts. With the rigid standards set by the global pandemic on typical learning practices, the youth of today need education in the field of arts more than ever. The freedom that arts allows for self-expression are surely necessary for students who want to evoke their true feelings during these very uncertain times. With the advent of technology as well, today’s kids are more walled in and isolated than ever before. Social scientists and psychologists alike are recording higher numbers of depression and anxiety from the young students of today.

Music, drawing, dance, film and other art mediums allow versatility in expression of one’s emotions and a productive medium to build skills and confidence in themselves. Arts programs within school also allow students to learn under proper tutelage to pursue their passions and move themselves forward in life. It comes on the shoulders of the adults in student’s lives, both parents and instructors, to drive home the importance and freeing nature that arts provides. The human spirit can be expressed through the tremendous future that art is the vehicle for. Nowhere quite like it can the raw and untapped human spirit be expressed through but through the arts.

Even before the COVID-19 outbreak, schools across the globe were railing back on their arts programs. Now that schools are more strapped for resources, arts could be seeing a recall back to “extracurricular” status permanently. For society at large, this is a step backwards for us all. The creativity that art promotes allows students to think broader when it comes to solving problems in other aspects of their lives. It also correlates directly to school student’s performance in other sectors of their education, including math and english. Also, students who study the arts consistently show higher levels of empathy, social tolerance and engagement of civility.

If we want students to be empowered to think critically and combat the problems of the world tomorrow, students of tomorrow need the arts more than ever before, as a means and equally an end.