Korea’s ‘El Sistema’
Violence has long plagued schools across the country. The government has announced a series of “perfect measures” to address the problem “once and for all.” But bullying still remains a rampant practice among many students and juveniles. A few victims have even taken their own lives, while many others still suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder nightmares. It turns out that none of the “tough measures,” “school security system,” or “surveillance camera system” has worked as effectively as was expected. Sadly, Korea ranked lowest among OECD member states in terms of the “global kids happiness index,” according to a recent survey.
A breeze can stir up our minds, while gusty winds only end up knocking down trees or blowing off roofs. Under the current circumstances, we may need soft approaches instead of “tough measures” to the school violence issues. Music, classical music in particular, can play a positive role in the hearts of young children and juveniles, and contribute eventually to imbuing a right sense of values in their hearts. There is a well-established precedent. A network of music programs called El Sistema has worked a miracle in Venezuela and several other countries since Jose Antonio Abreu, a Venezuelan pianist, economist, and educator, founded it in 1975. Through its programs, El Sistema offers free music lessons to children, and organizes orchestras and performances. As the Royal Swedish Academy of Music stated when it awarded a prize to Abreu in 2009, El Sistema has “given hundreds of thousands the tools to leave poverty” and “promoted traditional values, like respect, fellowship and humanity.”
We hope a new hope for the future will be given to children and juveniles, with the launch of an “El Sistema” campaign as momentum. Classical music will bring about positive effects on young children’s hearts and minds, beginning by calming them down effectively. Many studies show that classical music not only boosts brain power, but soothes minds. An “El Sistema,” a classical orchestral music campaign, can create quite a new academic environment. We will see what miracle this new campaign will work, once music is made part of young students’ everyday lives. It is high time we should give a serious consideration to discussing how to bring a drastic change to the current violence-infested, test score-oriented educational environment. It would be much better if we could find a solution with the help of classical music, wouldn’t it?
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