Music in D159: Soothing to the Ears? Or Unnecessary?

Music will once again be filling the halls of Mokena School schools this year, thanks to the recent hiring of two full-time and one part-time teacher, one of whom previously taught in the district. The three teachers will all also teach physical education as well.

The hires were made after the resignation of two teachers who worked in the district last year.

Earlier this week, Patch let our readers know about the recent hires and the resulting comments on both and our Facebook definitely drew our attention.

What do you think? Are music and physical education a necessity, or should they be considered luxuries?

• 'R. W. Voter' said: “More money down the drain. If a child is interested in music, get him music lessons. Is it mandatory that the children take music, even if they don't want to? Most grammar school children I know want no part of it. Then physical education, another mandate for the children. They wouldn't need P.E. if they took a walk once in a while, or rode their bicycle for miles, or just played baseball in the park, but the summer is almost over and I haven't seen any of the little darlings except for them getting into Mom's car to be driven somewhere.”
• 'ALS' said: “If schools only taught things that kids "wanted to do or learn" all they would teach all day is video games, naps, and eating junk food. Why even teach them at all, R.W. Voter? Not all children that go to our schools have parents that are educated or financially capable of providing a good home life or well rounded activities. As a society, we have a norm of providing a healthy education. We have schools with teachers because they are educated enough to teach children. Not all parents have the skills to do that.”
• Lisa DiGiovanni Liptak said: “I think it's great that they have music and PE in the schools. It's a nice break for the students from the other school subjects. PE is important because it gets the students running and moving around. It can be hard for children to contain all that energy sitting at a desk all day. Music is a big part of everyone's life. We listen to music in the car, there's music on television, and I like to turn it up when I'm cleaning. Why not learn about it?”
• Jen Vestuto said: “My God ..if we only taught our kids what they wanted to learn or where there interest was hmmm yea let me know how ur kids end up ..and sadly most families these days can't afford music lessons and other things...hey just remember that kid taking the music class that ur tax money is going to...might write your next favorite song!”

So what do you think? Do your kids benefit from music and physical education?

Join the conversation and share your thoughts in the comments section below!