Nowadays, a lot of children play musical instruments. Some of them like music very much and play very well while some may be forced to learn. I don’t think all students must learn to play at least one musical instrument.
First of all, children should have their freedom of choice. They should have freedom to choose whether they play a musical instrument. Some tiger moms forced their children to learn to play a musical instrument (or even more than one) because they want their children to be well-rounded. However, children who are forced to learn it will not be happy because they did not have a choice. Those children could not enjoy playing musical instrument so it will be just a waste of money and time. Also, this would make students not learn it by heart and form a bad image for music. For example, a child likes to play sports very much but she was forced to learn to play the violin by her mom. She would feel very frustrated because she was not playing what she wants. She only wants to play sports instead of the violin. As a result, the girl played the violin badly and she felt down. Therefore, I don’t agree that all students must learn to play at least one musical instrument because students will not have freedom of choice then.
Secondly, learning to play at least one musical instrument may add pressure towards students. Nowadays, students are already very busy on weekdays. If they still need to learn a new thing, they may be very stressed and busy that they could not have enough time to rest. For example, a student has three extra-curricular activities and his parents asked him to learn the piano also. He may not have enough time to finish his homework and needed to stay up late. He would also feel stressed as he is busy all the time. This may affect his health especially on his mood thus it is not good for his growth. Students who don’t really like playing music may see playing music instruments as “a thing to fulfill parents’ wish” which they may lose their interest of playing musical instrument they had at the beginning. Therefore, learning at least one musical instrument should not be necessary.
Thirdly, learning a musical instrument may be a burden for some families because they can’t afford it. Learning a musical instrument needs extra spending on buying instrument, books and on maintenance, which are costly. If all students must learn at least one musical instrument, it could become a burden for low-income families.
In conclusion, I don’t agree that all students must learn to play at least one musical instrument because students should have freedom of choice, whether they want to learn a musical instrument. Also, it would be a pressure for busy students and may affect their health and mood as they are stressed. Moreover, it will be an unnecessary burden for some families who cannot afford to let their children learn a musical instrument. Therefore, I don’t think that all students must learn to play at least one musical instrument. Let’s let students choose the extra-curricular activities they are interested in!