Nerds vs. jocks is a classic movie plot, but it’s not necessarily a concept that should be cemented into young minds. Encouraging the behavior of putting people into one box or the other limits the human race as a whole and separates the people that should be working together.
This year, Broadway has had a very successful session, but on October 13, 98% of the Broadway musicians of the AFM Local 802 Union voted in favor of strike authorization if necessary. Musicians are demanding health benefits, employment and income security, and wages that better reflect the overall success of Broadway. If they don’t get that, many shows people know and love will temporarily cease to run.
If Broadway shows rely on the musicians, why would Broadway even question paying them? The shows wouldn’t exist without them; the profits wouldn’t either.
Similarly, in 2023, Hollywood actors went on strike for similar reasons. The SAG-AFTRA strike was big in the news because Hollywood is a relevant industry to Americans, so many people enjoy movies and television entertainment.
The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) found that, in 2023, people listened to around 20.7 hours of music per week. Many high schoolers use music while studying or doing school work. Others listen while working, cooking, or cleaning. It fills in the gaps of everyday life.
The IFPI also found that 71% of people find music to be important to their mental health. Music is important to the human race, and someone has to make the music that makes the world spin around.
Yet, in high school, the students who take the stage for Theatre Guild productions or band, orchestra, or choir concerts can be made fun of. It isn’t logical for people to make fun of the media that they enjoy. Why is it that those with potential to grow up and become the artists that society relies on are the ones who are teased?
There is a stigma regarding students who take classes in the art wing of Braintree High. Mr. Sawtelle, the director of the music department and the Concert Choir at Braintree High, has had discussions with his students about them feeling ostracized by athletes. He explained that, “many shared that they are teased for being part of the music department simply because it’s seen as different.”
Sawtelle witnessed “some students who participate in both athletics and music feel the need to keep their musical involvement a secret from their teammates” and he has “also noticed that sometimes musicians make jokes about athletes, continuing the same back-and-forth cycle.”
At Braintree High, and most high schools for that matter, people focus on athletes more than artists. Football and basketball games tend to spark talk and popularity and the school even gathers for a homecoming pep rally that highlights sports teams with a walk out section every year. Braintree Athletics is responsible for the dance, and the pep rally is used to get students excited before the big football game that night.
Football games would be boring if they were silent, though. It just so happens that the pep band breaks this silence. They play songs that have become iconic moments of football games. Some may argue that the band is not necessary, but even when they do not perform, music often plays over the speakers. Some musician somewhere had to make those songs. You can’t have a sports event without one of the most important songs either: The National Anthem.
Furthermore, the average high schooler is more likely to work professionally in the arts than in athletics, as professions in entertainment and even types of communications are artistic. Braintree hasn’t had a famous athlete come out of our school for decades, but some famous influencers, like Stanzi Potenza from the class of 2013, are still relevant today.
Additionally, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics actually lumps entertainment and sports together as one industry. The two aspects are supposed to coexist to be successful. Sports rely on the creative people that broadcast them to the world and entertain fans in the time between plays.
Separating so-called nerds and athletes and acting like early 2000s coming of age films reflect real life is childish. The two sides can coexist, and they often do. Plenty of athletes take art classes, not just for graduation requirements, but because they actually enjoy it. These students tend to be the most well-rounded too. One label or the other does not need to be considered strange when they are really not that different after all.