CON

Resolved:
This House believes that American public schools should prioritize STEM education over the
arts and humanities.
Today my partners and I will be arguing the affirmative side of, resolved, this House believes
that American public schools should prioritize STEM education over the arts and humanities. First, we
want to define a few key terms in the above resolved. We define STEM as an acronym for Science,
Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. We define arts and humanities as the visual, literary, and
performing arts. Defined by the Merriam-Webster online dictionary, prioritize is to make something
the most important in a group.
My partners and I would also like to clarify that the negation side of the bill is under
no
obligation
to prove that arts and humanities are better than STEM subjects, but to simply prove that
STEM subjects in school are no more important than arts and humanities and should not be
prioritized over them.
Contention 1: The arts and humanities will be equally as academically important as STEM later on in
life.
While some would argue that a degree in the arts and humanities would not be as useful as a
degree in the sciences, evidence clearly shows otherwise. According to a 2012 study of CEOs and
Heads of Product Engineering, over 60% of US born CEOs had a degree in the humanities compared
to only 15% of CEOs having a degree in the sciences. According to a study conducted by UCL,
American
Financial Times Stock Exchange 100 Index companies evidence rules in favor of the
humanities, with 34% of CEOs having a degree in the humanities compared to 31% for the sciences.
This statistic negates the popular belief that people with humanities cannot get as successful or high
paying job as a STEM major could.
Additionally, a report by Americans for the Arts states that young
people who participate regularly in the arts (three hours a day on three days each week through one
full year) are four times more likely to be recognized for academic achievement, to participate in a
math and science fair or to win an award for writing an essay or poem than children who do not
participate. Furthermore, this proves that arts can develop a student more and allow them to reach
their full academic potential.
Contention 2: Taking arts and humanities courses leads to more effective oral and written
communications skills.
Having a curriculum that includes music in schools can greatly impact a childs language
development. According to The Childs Music Workshop, an organization that supports musical
education, taking a music class as an elementary school student can physically develop a part of the
left side of the brain that is involved with processing language. This means that children will be able
to more easily retain information and have better writing skills. These language skills lead to being
more socially competent. According to Dr. Kyle Pruett, a professor of child psychiatry at Yale School
of Medicine, language competence is the root of social competence, meaning that music experience
actually leads to being socially and verbally competent. Prioritizing STEM over the arts and


CON

humanities in schools means that school curriculum is cutting out important skills such as language
development acquired through arts education.
Contention 3: The arts and humanities are essential in the American public school system AND in
learning STEM.
A good understanding of the arts clearly helps students in school and in STEM subjects as
well. According to the No Child Left Behind Act, arts and humanities are CLEARLY mandated as a
core academic subject, meaning that they are just as important as STEM, which are also core subjects.
Additionally, the private philanthropic organization the Dana Foundation, which supports brain
research, and Gottfried Schlaug, professor of neurology at Harvard Medical School, discovered
changes in the brain images of children who participated in 15 months of weekly music instruction
and practice. The students had improved sound discrimination and fine motor tasks, and imaging
showed changes to the networks in the brain associated with those abilities.
Also, having a curriculum that includes music in schools can greatly impact a childs language
development. According to The Childs Music Workshop, an organization that supports musical
education, taking a music class as an elementary school student can physically develop a part of the
left side of the brain that is involved with processing language. This means that children will be able
to more easily retain information and have better writing skills. These language skills lead to being
more socially competent. According to Dr. Kyle Pruett, a professor of child psychiatry at Yale School
of Medicine, language competence is the root of social competence, meaning that music experience
actually leads to being socially and verbally competent.
Arts and music education programs are mandatory in countries that rank consistently among
the highest and above the US in math and science test scores, like Japan, Hungary, and the
Netherlands.
Professor Christopher Johnson, who teaches music education and music therapy at the
University of Kansas, found that students in elementary schools with superior music education
programs scored about 20% higher in math scores on standardized tests, in contrast to schools with
low-quality music programs, regardless of socioeconomic disparities among the schools or school
districts. Music also raises the IQs of children. A study done by Glenn Schellburg at the University of
Toronto found that giving weekly piano and voice lessons to six year old children made their IQs
higher.
In addition, Johnsons study shows many more positive effects that a good music education
can have on students success levels. It showed that, in high schools that have a quality musical
education, students were doing more creative activities, like writing, that lead to them being more
active participants in class and being more concentrated while doing academic and sports-related
activities. His study also showed that music training also leads to better basic memory recall. Middle
school students who took a music course offered by their school had better verbal and written recall
proficiency. This was reflected when they took standardized tests and had to give oral reports.


CON

In conclusion, the arts and humanities are just as important as STEM

because they will help
students excel in school, they will give students essential skills in life, and they will be as important as
STEM beyond school.
For these three reasons, my partners and I strongly urge a con ballot.