Music study keeps students away from harmful activities

Attribution

Patricial Shehan Campbell, Claire Connell, and Amy Beegle (2007), "Adolescents' Expressed Meanings of Music in and out of School," Journal of Research in Music Education, 55(3), p. 228-9.

Item Text

Students spoke of music's social benefits in relation to its function as a distraction from involvement in spurious activity such as drugs, alcohol, smoking (cigarettes), gang life, and promiscuous sex--in their own lives or in the lives of adolescents in general. Some reference was also made to music's capacity to dissuade individuals from suicidal behaviors, if only by giving singers and players purpose in their young lives. Even young teens offered some details about thier experimentation with illegal substances and with gang activity, along with a description of music's role in helping them to draw away from these distractions and to set them on course.

There were many references made to music's role in saving teenagers from depression and suicidal behavior, as in this statement by a 13-year-old girl:

"Many of my friends have dabbled with suicide, and none of them ever had any involvement with music. Just think, if at least one of these friends was involved with music, then the education department could potentially save a life."

Links

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Submitter Information

• Name: MENC Staff
• Email: advocacy@menc.org