July 23, 2014 at 2:10 p.m.

Arts are essential to 'being human'

Letters to the Editor

To the editor:
The U.S. House of Representatives Appropriations Committee has approved a bill that would cut the National Endowment for the Arts by 49 percent. I think this is a very bad idea for our country and call on our congressional delegation to reject this cut.
 I believe one of the major tenets of life is “Self Respect through Creativity”.  Also, I believe self respect is a critical component of a well-rounded student and has been steadily declining for many years. The meteoric rise of Facebook and other social media is proof that our youth is actively searching for their own respect, their own image.  
Social media provides an outlet for creativity and the explosion of it shows how people need to create.  
Because the National Endowment for the Arts supports creativity and artistic excellence, and improves access to the arts by granting funds to nonprofit arts organizations, I call on our federal officials to support an increase in funding for the NEA beyond its 1993 funding level of $174 million. That funding level would equal $277 million in today’s dollars.
Our kids and our schools need more arts education.
Besides the lip service including the arts as being one of the 10 core academic subjects, the No Child Left Behind law has pushed arts classes to the side.
Schools, especially those struggling, can retain their best teachers by becoming incubators for creativity and innovation; places where students want to learn and teachers want to teach.
Across the country, the role of the arts as an economic engine is growing in acceptance and strength. That’s good, but in my humble opinion not the most crucial benefit of the arts.
I urge citizens to recognize the need for instilling more self respect in students, who will become our future lawmakers and leaders. I ask all to consider the possibility that creativity, the arts, can foster and increase self respect for our students and our country. I call on all lawmakers to support funding and policies that would recognize the emotional growth potential and direct benefits of encouraging cities and states to strategically invest in the arts.
It’s all about our kids and our kids’ kids.
The arts are essential to ‘being human’, something that’s becoming more and more lacking in the face of the overbearing technology that is now our world.
Sincerely,
Kenny Bergle
Fort Wayne[[In-content Ad]]
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