engineering a better experience
Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Classical Music as a Punishment

by The Metaist

Summary

In early 2010, a school in England started a program to replace 30-minute detentions with a more classical approach.

Mozart family

Behave, or you'll have to listen to me play this classical music!
(Image: Wikimedia)

 

Commentary

The UK has a long history of trying to curb anti-social behavior, especially among teens. Recent failed attempts include the oh-so-popular Mosquito device aimed at annoying teens with noises in ranges adults do not hear. Of course, students turned the noise into a ringtone to avoid detection of cell phone activity while among adults.

This more recent attempt claims high success (50% reduction) in deterring student misbehavior and consists of and hour of listening to Mozart, Verdi or Bach in addition to public shaming. Additionally, students have to watch a DVD on mathematics and spend half and hour writing about what they have learned.

Meta

This seems like it will have negative consequences for the Arts in the future. It's hard enough to get people to appreciate classical music; this policy just reinforces the notion that classical music is boring or torturous.

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