When I was a kid, summer road trips were a thing. Long hours in the back of a van or station wagon, without air-conditioning (or seatbelts, for that matter), were the norm. These trips were a ritual and a rite of passage.
While on the trip, we all had our jobs. My mom would plan and pack, and my dad would drive. My brothers and I? Our job was to fight, and we were all very good at our jobs.
But there was one job no one wanted: cleaning the windshield when we stopped for gas. It was gross! Scraping tons of crunchy, bloody bugs off the windshield was no one's idea of a good time.
Like many of you, I am recreating these same experiences with my family. One generation later, the similarities are remarkable. Mom packs and plans, dad drives, and the kids fight. The one notable difference? No bugs.
As a child, our windshield was covered with splattered bugs, but I don't see them anymore.
According to a recent study, from 1996 to 2017, insect splatters fell by 80 percent on shorter routes and a stunning 97 percent on longer ones.
Anders Pape Moller, a Danish biologist, was the first scientist to note the phenomenon. (I could cite the study, but would you really want to read it?)
Every summer, he and his assistants return to Denmark to drive battered budget vehicles back and forth along the same rural routes in the north of Denmark's Jutland peninsula. And with regularity, he would find fewer and fewer hitchhikers stuck to his windshield.
But why?
I honestly don't care. But, apparently, I should.
Is it the insect decline? Is it part of global warming? Have more aerodynamic designs of cars decreased the splats? Are insects commuting on side roads or catching an Uber?
The article points out that bugs are necessary to our world and appear to be a finite and endangered resource. Their absence, for whatever reason, is a harbinger of things to come.
This got me thinking. (Don't ask me why?) Are music kids like mosquitoes? Are they an essential but undervalued part of our educational ecosystem? Are they dwindling? And, if so, is that cause for future concern?
Like their flying friends, I don't know the cause(s), but I know it's happening. But, it shouldn't.
America's population is increasing.
The number of schools and enrollment are at an all-time high.
Access to affordable (but not necessarily good) instruments has never been easier.
Teachers have never been more aggressive in recruiting.
So why?
Is it pandemic related?
Is social media impacting things?
How much is related to increased graduation/college acceptance requirements?
How much of it is related to scheduling and parental pressures?
Every music educator is asking the same questions and wants the same answers.
Every music educator is asking the same questions and wants the same answers.
But, for a moment, let's forget the lack of splat and focus on the more pressing question: is this indicative of a more significant and looming problem?
Is there a causational or correlational relationship between music enrollment and school success? Is the health of a school music program indicative of school health?
I believe so.
In recent articles, I have shared that if we are to fix what is wrong and broken in our schools, perhaps we should start with what is right and working: MUSIC!
What do you think? Is there a relationship between the two (music and school health)? And (if applicable), is declining enrollment a signal of dark clouds on the horizon?
I have a bit more to share on this; just not quite there yet.