Music That Didn't Sooth the Savage Breast

A few days ago the Caddo school board voted to restore music programs to schools where the programs had been dropped for financial reasons.  Music, whether vocal, instrumental, or a marching band, is great to have, as  are other enrichment programs, but is considered a luxury and is first to be cut if money is short.My four boys were in band from middle school through high school.  They benefited although it was expensive having two at a time in band. Jessica started in middle school but she had so many activities she had to give up something and the middle school she graduated from did not have band.  I remember when we got a music teacher in grammar school.  I had been absent from school for weeks with an illness and was stunned when my classmates delighted in giving me this news, knowing it would disturb me.  It wasn't that I did not like singing; I did, but the idea of singing before the class was terrorizing. This took place  during the depths of the depression, so I can only suppose some authority thought it would bring a little joy into our deprived lives. It actually did the opposite.  The teacher, a male, was high tempered and liked  to grab a kid by the hair and yank him out of his chair.  We despised him and the class.