I took this program to 3 different elementary schools in my community. They were half-hour sessions that occurred once a week, resulting in a four week program consisting of 4 sessions per school. I was curious to see if the children had any prior knowledge about the topic I was addressing. I gave them pre-surveys, and asked them if they knew the meaning of "stress" and "anxiety." I asked them what they liked to do when they felt overwhelmed with school work or family life. I also asked them what types of music they liked to listen to. What I discovered: They had no idea what the word "stress" meant. They only listened to one type of music (pop, of course) and they watched TV or played video games when they felt overwhelmed. My reaction to these surveys...perfect. These children were my little guinea pigs, and they satisfied the exact criteria that I was trying to impact. After my four sessions I gave them a similar survey. Now, they could clearly define the word "stress", they listened to several diverse types of music, and they put listening to music as one of their top forms of stress relief.
What I AccomplishedThis program meant so much more to me than I ever could have imagined. It was truly incredible to realize that I really had impacted these kids for the better. They absorbed the information I was giving them having to do with a difficult topic. With my passion and my past experiences, I was able to improve the future emotional and mental health of these kids.
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What's Next?You. I can't do this alone. I want to make sure every kid who has the opportunity is able to learn about the little ways that they can be happier in life and how to drive away the day-to-day troubles through one of the most accessible tools of stress relief: music.
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