“The proportion of teenagers participating in music activities, including practicing and playing an instrument to an audience, has fallen to its lowest level since Taking Part started measuring young people’s participation in the arts in 2008/09,” writes Christy Romer in Friday’s (9/20) Arts Professional UK. Taking Part is a survey by the British government’s Department for Digital, Culture Media, and Sport. “Young people’s engagement with crafts and drama has also declined, and the gender gap in relation to children’s participation in dance has never been wider. The Government data, which measures five to ten year olds’ engagement with the arts outside of school and 11 to 15 year olds’ engagement both in and outside of school, comes as new research shows schools are reducing their art provisions … Overall, 97% of children engaged with the arts in some form in 2016/17, 63% visited a museum and 65% visited a library. Engagement in music activities among young people aged 11 to 15 has been on a slow and steady decline since it reached a peak in 2011-12 … This was reflected in a fall in the proportion of young people practicing an instrument, which fell from 34 to 29%, and performing in front of an audience, which fell from 22 to 18%.”
Posted October 3, 2017
