Video Game Room Accessories

TV And Video Games Have Destroyed Our Children’s Musical Potential

Does TV rot your brain? Unless you believe the Hulu commercials, no, TV doesn’t rot your brains, but does it dumb you down and destroy your potential as a human being? I think you could probably make an argument for that, but hey why should I wait for you. I’ll go ahead and make an argument for it. And why stop at TV? Let’s toss in video games as well.

So, am I just out to rant today? Actually no. I’m not really into ranting much and I don’t really have anything against TV and video games in general, but I was thinking about how human society, especially American society, doesn’t seem to produce childhood prodigies any more. Consider a few of the more well known musical prodigies:

• Franz Liszt: Performing major concerts at the age of 11
• Samuel Barber: Attempted to write an opera at the age of 10
• Felix Mendelssohn: making public concert appearances at 9
• Frederic Chopin: Writing polonaises and performing concerts at the age of 7.
• Wolfgang Mozart: started playing the harpsichord at 3 and started composing at age 5

These people and many others had done more in their musical lives by the age of 18 than most of us will do in our entire lives…and these are just the musical prodigies.

The Not So Good Old Days:
As you think about these people, consider the world they lived in. The infant mortality rate was high. Medicine was in…well…the dark ages. Travel was very slow. Information was not readily available to people. And not many people had the access to the tools needed to facilitate a child prodigy. In music, for example, you didn’t find a piano (or harpsichord) in every house or even most houses. Many children worked either in their home or at a job. Despite all these disadvantages the world was still producing prodigies. I would imagine that there were plenty of child prodigy potentials that never reached their potential due to the difficulties of life.

Living In The Land Of Plenty:
Today, much of the world, especially the USA, is a very different place to live. No children have a job and most don’t even have many chores to do at home. So, kids have time. Music and musical instruments are widely available and most families have some musical instrument in their home. So, kids have access to instruments and musical accessories. Education about music is widely available either formally (schools and conservatories) or casually in private lessons, by video, or over the internet. So, kids have access to information and education. The speed of travel has increased to the point that we can be just about anywhere on earth within a day. So, children are able to access opportunities no matter where they happen to be.

How is it with all this time, all this stuff, and all this information that we aren’t producing more child prodigies than ever?

Distraction – Escape – Laziness
With all this opportunity, our children spend so much of their time vegging out in front of a TV or working up blisters on their thumbs playing video games. Hours and hours each week that could be spent learning and developing skills and knowledge are wasted away at activities with no real purpose or benefit. I can’t give myself a pass either. While growing up, I spent hours watching TV and was lucky if I got in more than two hours of piano practice in a week. It wasn’t for lack of opportunity. The piano was all of 10 feet away in the living room and there was plenty of sheet music in our house. I was just lazy.

Can We Turn It Around?
From what I’ve seen, I was par for the course. Most children don’t do much to develop themselves outside of school. Then again, most parents don’t push their children to grow either. Maybe as parents we’re too caught up in the idea that we want our children to “have a childhood” or we don’t want to push too hard because they may not like it or they may fail. I’ve found in my life that most of the things I’ve enjoyed most took a lot of effort to achieve and the pressure of failure is what caused me to grow and to succeed.

So, I challenge you kids and parents. Turn off the TVs and video games and start doing something productive. Parents, don’t be afraid to push your children. It’s ok if they fail, we all do, but help them learn from the failures and teach them to continue on until they succeed. One day they will thank you…and you will be thankful as well both because your children are successful and because they don’t live your basement.

About the Author

Francis Beaudry is currently the conductor of two orchestras. He is a writer and arranger and has published musical works for choir and orchestra. In addition he is the president of TheMaxZone.net, an online musical accessories superstore offering instrument accessories, musical accessories, and more.

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