Teaching children how to write creatively, play an instrument, sing, dance, or draw is as important to the majority of adults as the traditional “three R’s,’' according to a recent poll.
Arts education belongs in the nation’s classrooms along with English, mathematics, science, and social studies, according to 67 percent of the adults polled in “Americans and the Arts V,’' a survey conducted by Louis Harris and Associates for the Phillip Morris Companies Inc. It was the fifth in a series of arts surveys initiated in 1973. Ninety percent of those surveyed said it was important for their children to be exposed to the arts, but 55 percent said young people do not have enough cultural experiences, such as listening to classical music or going to the theater.
Some 86 percent of those polled said they wanted more cultural opportunities for their children than they had themselves.
More than 80 percent said they wanted their children to be taught creative writing and how to play a musical instrument. More than 75 percent also favored instruction in drawing, painting, and sculpture, as well as voice and singing.
