“The arts and culture are not an add-on, or a nice-to-have, but are part of the fabric of our society, and that young people have a right to experience the best, and to be given the opportunity to make their own contribution to the continual reshaping of our civilization. We must celebrate our successes, build best practice, and learn from each other; in challenging times, it is up to us to be the champions of young people’s hopes, talent and ideas.”
Let your kids make art! Let them study arts subjects at school! Support a school system that includes the arts! It will help them learn, stay healthy and be active members of civic society.
And here is some evidence to support that claim…
1. Participation in structured arts activities can increase cognitive abilities by 17%.
2. Learning through arts and culture can improve attainment in Maths and English.
3. Learning through arts and culture develops skills and behaviour that lead children to do better in school.
4. Students from low-income families who take part in arts activities at school are three times more likely to get a degree.
5. Employability of students who study arts subjects is higher and they are more likely to stay in employment.
6. Students from low-income families who engage in the arts at school are twice as likely to volunteer.
7. Students from low-income families who engage in the arts at school are 20% more likely to vote as young adults.
8. Young offenders who take part in arts activities are 18% less likely to re-offend.
9. Children who take part in arts activities in the home during their early years are ahead in reading and Maths at age nine.
10. People who take part in the arts are 38% more likely to report good health.”
Source (of the 10 points and the quote above): ‘Imagine Nation, the Value of Cultural Learning’. Cultural Learning Alliance. 2017. Download full report here: http://www.culturallearningalliance.org.uk/images/uploads/ImagineNation_2_the_value_of_cultural_learning.pdf?mc_cid=c8b74fb7b5&mc_eid=cb33862c36
Read the Key Research Findings in full at:
http://www.culturallearningalliance.org.uk/evidence
Jade Herriman 