While teens love to listen to music, fewer are actually getting the opportunity to make music at school — despite the fact that active music making actually improves academic performance and their lives in many other ways. School programs continue to be threatened by state budget cuts, and more kids have to look to other sources to learn to play. We at AMC want to make it easier for them.

Teens who make music have:

• Better math scores and reading ability
• Lower incidence of drug use and antisocial behavior
• Positive social experiences by being able to express their individuality, and if in a band, be a part of a team

Unfortunately, teens are less likely than ever to be offered the study of music as one of their in-school options:

• In 1999, only 13 out of 133schools in Baltimore had instrumental music.
• Fewer than half in Chicago did.

The most recent National Assessment of Educational progress (NAEP) showed only 25% of eighth graders nationwide had the opportunity to take a music class, and with the impending round of education budget cuts currently facing 46 of the 50states, it is possible that up to 60% of kids enrolled in grades K-12 will have their music programs cut this year alone.

This trend continues, despite the fact that teens desperately want music education. When the AMC and MTV partnered with Justin Timberlake last year to ask teens to visit the AMC petition site to demand music in school, the site received an overwhelming 125,000 hits in the first three hours!