Since a young age, music has played a huge part in my life. Whether it was singing a homemade concert to my family, receiving a prized piano for Christmas, jamming with a band in front of a live audience, or performing in the high school’s musicals, I have always had a passion for music. Going into this research project, I was determined to incorporate music in some way, not only because of my natural interest, but I wanted to make this project a lot more personal. I was on the way home one day when I heard this story on National Public Radio about how music was helping Syrian refugee children. I became fascinated with the idea that something I have been so passionate about for so long might actually be serving the most innocent victims of war, both mentally and physically. I had to research about this. |
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Before I began my research I hypothesized that music was helping the children express themselves and giving them some fun. But the challenge with stating my initial hypothesis this way is that this could be said about music's impact on any child, anywhere; it did not capture the unique circumstances going on in Syria. I had to find actual evidence behind my theory and examples for how music was uniquely helpful to refugee children, especially those from Syria.
At first it was difficult to find multiple, current events covering how music was specifically helping Syrian children who also happened to be in refugee camps outside of America. But once I found one story, it seemed the rest kept coming in. The deeper I searched, the more I found countless stories that these children were really being positively impacted by music. I noticed the people reaching out to help were not only composers and famous people, but normal, day-to-day people who were going out of their way to show compassion and bring happiness to these children.
The more I researched these stories, the more I began to understand why music was so helpful for the Syrian children refugees. First, I discovered that it wasn’t just that music made them feel happier, but that there was research behind how it was helping their brains to better cope with the unique stressors they were experiencing. Second, I uncovered that the non-governmental organizations were using music as a form of therapy to help children address the long term scars of being casualties of war. Lastly, I realized that these music programs were often providing the only sense of normalcy these children likely experienced in the refugee camps. Music gave them the chance to just be kids, and grow up a little slower. After tying these understandings together, a more robust thesis emerged.
Another difficulty I had to face while composing my paper was finding a counter argument. Few people will argue that music doesn’t bring happiness. But I actually discovered that given the extreme and tragic circumstances in their environment (war), for some people, the singing did not seem appropriate. These people viewed providing music to kids as trivial and misguided, even mentally harmful to the elders of the community.
Since initially researching this topic, I have not found any new developments, which is disappointing. In general it was shocking to discover how little funding is contributed to the arts. In addition to that, many NGO's find it difficult to justify investing in the arts in Syria, when other needs are far more pressing. There are still some programs going on for these children, but there is much more that can be done. I am hopeful that more NGO's will use music to benefit Syrian children refugees.
At first it was difficult to find multiple, current events covering how music was specifically helping Syrian children who also happened to be in refugee camps outside of America. But once I found one story, it seemed the rest kept coming in. The deeper I searched, the more I found countless stories that these children were really being positively impacted by music. I noticed the people reaching out to help were not only composers and famous people, but normal, day-to-day people who were going out of their way to show compassion and bring happiness to these children.
The more I researched these stories, the more I began to understand why music was so helpful for the Syrian children refugees. First, I discovered that it wasn’t just that music made them feel happier, but that there was research behind how it was helping their brains to better cope with the unique stressors they were experiencing. Second, I uncovered that the non-governmental organizations were using music as a form of therapy to help children address the long term scars of being casualties of war. Lastly, I realized that these music programs were often providing the only sense of normalcy these children likely experienced in the refugee camps. Music gave them the chance to just be kids, and grow up a little slower. After tying these understandings together, a more robust thesis emerged.
Another difficulty I had to face while composing my paper was finding a counter argument. Few people will argue that music doesn’t bring happiness. But I actually discovered that given the extreme and tragic circumstances in their environment (war), for some people, the singing did not seem appropriate. These people viewed providing music to kids as trivial and misguided, even mentally harmful to the elders of the community.
Since initially researching this topic, I have not found any new developments, which is disappointing. In general it was shocking to discover how little funding is contributed to the arts. In addition to that, many NGO's find it difficult to justify investing in the arts in Syria, when other needs are far more pressing. There are still some programs going on for these children, but there is much more that can be done. I am hopeful that more NGO's will use music to benefit Syrian children refugees.
Header borrowed from "Syrian Refugees in Erbil Governorate"
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cabinet.gov.krd/p/page.aspx?l=12&s=000000&r=401&p=483&h=1&t=407