Across the province, music teachers testify to the emotional and cognitive load our young people feel. In everyday life, Jeremy and Annabelle are more anxious, more nervous, more irritable. They are sensitive to their environment and also hear ambient speech; we are worried about the success rates, we see the difficulties experienced in terms of their socio-affective balance, but aren’t we neglecting the solutions that are before our eyes? In the music class, for every moment of musical practice that we have been able to have, we see the students settle down, light up. They naturally come back to the music room, get involved in playing or singing, because it simply does them the greatest good. While teachers in the field obviously perceive the distress of their students as well as the means of alleviating it, the research clearly confirms their observations.
In recent days, the Quebec Students’ Union reported that 52% of its members had experienced psychological distress, that 7% of young people had had suicidal thoughts, while 3% had attempted suicide. The students especially note a loss on the social level (62%) and a great loneliness (72%). Previously, CISSSs had reported that the distress rate among adolescents had risen from 35 to 70% during the first six months of the health crisis. These data are consistent with a recent INSPQ report on the distress of 15-19 year olds, hard hit by the collateral effects of emergency measures, but also with data from the Belgian health authorities (Sciensano.be).
Music is not just an extracurricular activity performed on a whim. It is a set of opportunities to share a common passion with a group of young people, whether in a school setting or in a local harmony. The ripple effect is stimulating, and the social network is consolidated. Some young people have no doubt been able to compensate with virtual activities, but we will agree that, on the one hand, human contact and, on the other hand, the sound quality can in no way come close to what is experienced in a place where young musicians meet, talk, play together, improve the efficiency of their group and comfort each other when needed.
music as medicine
Researchers have recently demonstrated the link between the pleasure aroused by music and the release of dopamine, a neurotransmitter responsible for pleasure in the brain. Research presents music as an alternative medicine, which can reduce pain and decrease the response to stress, by moderating the secretion of cortisol, the stress hormone. Music is a vehicle for social cohesion, as it brings people together through ensemble music, choral singing and dancing, for example. Language offers no such advantages, as it requires only one individual to speak at a time. In this sense, language is the music of the individual and music the language of humanity.
Music education introduces young people to a variety of artistic and aesthetic experiences, which stimulate their creative potential, but its contribution goes much further. Learning music promotes the development of basic cognitive functions and helps improve academic performance, especially in reading. Research has found that music education energizes all of the cognitive operations needed for hearing (Kraus & Chandrasekaran, 2010), attention and memory. In comparison, it is by far the artistic discipline whose benefits are best documented by research, both in education, in neuroscience and in psychology.
Beyond listening
Researchers confirm, however, that it is not enough to listen to music to reap the benefits, you have to do it. The skills that music develops should make this subject a cornerstone of the Quebec educational program, as is already the case in several countries whose education systems are among the most efficient in the world, such as Japan, Switzerland or the Netherlands.
As this fifth wave begins to reduce the adverse effects on our health system, it is high time that we realize the impact, sometimes serious, of having overlooked the developmental needs of children and adolescents. And if a sixth wave unfortunately comes to concern us, the psychosocial factors of young people will have to be taken into consideration to ensure that they are not harmed again on the personal, social and academic levels.
We believe that the practice of music and its access through education is a powerful response to the difficulties experienced by a large number of young people, and even those not so young. If some people draw an outlet and a source of well-being from sports, there are many who do so through music lessons, the choir or ensemble music. It is high time to support access to this essential service.
* The authors are respectively: full professor and director of the bachelor’s program in music education at the Faculty of Music of Université Laval, holder of the Canada Chair in Music and Learning, administrator on the Board of FAMEQ; doctor of neuroscience, educational psychologist and ethicist; CM OQ MSRC, full professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Montreal, holder of the Casavant Chair in Neurocognition of Music, member of the International Laboratory for Research on Brain, Music and Sound (BRAMS), member of the Order of Canada, Officer of the National Order of Quebec and winner of the Armand-Frappier Prize; music teacher and president of the Federation of Associations of Educating Musicians of Quebec (FAMEQ); professor and coordinator in the Department of Music at Cégep de Sainte-Foy and director general of FAMEQ.
Co-signers:
Gabrielle Ayotte, Executive Director of the Federation of Bands and Symphony Orchestras of Quebec (FHOSQ)
Nathalie Bédard-Morin, President of the FHOSQ
Élisabeth Bouchard Bernier, music teacher and FAMEQ secretary
Luc Fortin, President of the Guild of Musicians of Quebec
Guillaume Fournier, music teacher at Cégep de Saint-Laurent and board member of FAMEQ
Berthier Francoeur, music teacher and administrator on the Board of FAMEQ
Françoise Henri, President of the Board of the Quebec Music Council
Isabelle Héroux, PH.D., full professor of guitar and pedagogy, University of Quebec in Montreal
Judith Ladouceur, music teacher and administrator on the Board of FAMEQ
Maurice Laforest, piano teacher, head of the FAMEQ music schools and individualized education committee and administrator on the FAMEQ board
Ève Martin, Director of the Trois-Rivières Music Conservatory and Treasurer on the Board of FAMEQ
David Peretz-Larochelle, music teacher, administrator on the FAMEQ board and regional president of FAMEQ – Montreal
Maxime Riopel, music teacher, vice-president of FAMEQ and regional president of FAMEQ – Québec – Chaudière-Appalaches
Karine Saucier, educational advisor, member of the Association of Respondents and Music Advisors of Quebec (RCRMQ – FAMEQ) and administrator on the Board of FAMEQ
Diane Tanguay, Executive Director of Arts en mouvement Québec
Dominic Trudel, Executive Director of the Quebec Music Council