I have been a musician and educator for most of my life and I’ve watched students of all ages benefit from participating in musical activities.
From dancing, singing, playing an instrument or just simply listening to music it can motivate, relax and inspire.
In this edition of our Mountain School of Strings Blog I want to write about music education and ACEs and specifically how MtnSOS classes help students build the resilience they need to combat ACEs in their lives.
Adverse Childhood Experiences are known by educators and therapists as ACEs and we all probably experience them in one form or another.
ACEs are traumatic events with long term consequences. ACEs could be events in a young person’s life like physical & emotional abuse, neglect, bullying, caregiver mental illness, household violence, depression, food insecurity, isolation, illness, death, moving and homelessness.
When one of these things happens to a child it can be traumatic, but when more than one of these events happen then it can begin to impact the person’s future health and wellness.
One of the main qualities that can combat the effects of ACEs is resilience, but can resilience be taught? Educators are discovering that resilience can be taught and giving students the tools to find hope and resilience within themselves is essential to having more healthy futures as adults.
Mountain School of Strings after school music programs in Transylvania County, North Carolina are tapping into some of the main quantifiers that help build resilience in our youth.
First and foremost is that these classes give students another trusted adult in their life. Our teachers are there with the student’s best interest in mind musically, socially and emotionally.
Our students build resilience by developing a community of friends to play music with after school and at special events.
When a student builds a special skill like playing the violin or guitar and gains mastery over that skill it gives them confidence and security that they can take into other settings and subjects.
Being able to stand in front of their peers, families and teachers and perform builds their social emotional skills in a powerful way.
Knowing that many adults would have a difficult time standing in front of an audience gives them confidence in their own abilities.
Finally, playing music gives students a way to regulate difficult emotions and feelings. Having a non-verbal way to communicate and express themselves is hugely important to processing highly charged emotions.
Music can always be with them as a source of comfort no matter what is happening beyond their control.
We all need resilience to navigate life's challenges. To learn how to be resilient we need trusted friends and adults in our lives, confidence, mastery of skills, social emotional care, a way to regulate difficult emotions and feelings and a sense of community and friendships.
Music can address all of those points and give students young and old the tools they need to combat ACEs.