Music pupils do better
A 16-year-old neighbour has dropped music from her school curriculum because it will not help toward the A-levels she needs to become a scientist. This decision is based on the shortcomings of our education system. Music might have helped her become a scientist. This is not special pleading on my part. In Hungary, where they are very keen on advanced education, they have found that youngsters who study music invariably do better in non-music subjects than those who don’t. Music develops reasoning capacity, ear training helps with foreign languages, and memorising and emotional capacity is increased. In all exams, music pupils did from 5 per cent to 20.1 per cent better than nonmusic students.
TASK: SUM UP THE TEXT, EXPRESS YOUR ATTITUDE TO IT: He Said a Song Inspired Him. Nobody will argue that music is the most powerful element of youth culture. Teens name listening to music as their top non-school activity, consider musicians as heroes far more than even athletes. Many people say that music helps to relax, to relieve the stress. And it really does. Doctors find that music actually enhances the healing process. No one can possibly believe that a medium with such positive power has no negative potential. Psychologists say that music can contribute to depression, suicide and homicide; music with destructive themes can be harmful for some young people. Destructive music makes teens more approving of violent behavior in others and in themselves. In this respect the so-called vandalism can be the consequence of live concerts – sources of aggression. Sometimes music motivates to kill. The message it can convey can be very destructive. To prove it – some official information. The teenage murderer of Texas State Trooper – Bill Davidson defended himself by arguing that violent gangster rap motivated him to kill. Kip Kinkel, who murdered his parents in Springfield, consumed the violent nihilism of the rock-singer Marilyn Manson. So did Andrew Wurst, who killed a teacher at an 8th-grade dance at Edinboro, and Luke Woodham, who murdered his parents and a classmate in Pearl. Christopher Golly from Los-Angeles, influenced by a rock song, in which the singer fantasizes about killing his father, killed his own parent. Last year 15-year-old Charles Williams was arrested for shooting up Santana High School in suburban San Diego, having killed 2 teens and wounded 13 others. He said a song inspired him. At school he was constantly bullied and was very angry. He himself smoked marijuana, went to parties where he got drunk. Can anyone possibly believe that a boy in this situation, who sought refuge in music full of anger and despair, would not see violence as a legitimate outlet? The music industry now celebrates the awards of rapper Eminem, a sociopath, who describes how he choked and slashed the life out of his unfaithful wife and raped his annoying mother. That album has sold more than 10 million copies in the U.S. alone. All the scientists agree that the age of teenagers is very sensitive and young people can be influenced by many things, among which music is one of the main ones. That is why it is important for parents to monitor not only what their children watch on TV, but also restrict the kind of music they buy. Until then, teenagers can receive “messages, conveyed by music” with deadly consequences. At the conference, which took place in this city some time ago, the following matter concerning music had been discussed. Can music be considered a kind of weapon? Of course it doesn’t destroy the person physically, but can bring damage to his psychical state. It is proved that music can cause hallucinations. Maybe this problem is exaggerated, but facts tell what they tell. On the other hand, who is responsible for turning such a source of beauty and perfection, praised by people during many centuries into a destructive force?
TASK: READ THE TEXT AND PREPARE A ROUND TABLE TV DISCUSSION ON ITS BASIS (REPRESENTATIVES OF ALL THE TRENDS)
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