The importance of curiosity and exposing children to the arts

Since I first discovered computers, I have been using the internet to research for magazine and newspaper articles.

I could almost always find the information I needed immediately, to explain or define the subject of my writing. Today, it seems the “net” has, like so many other things, eschewed information for money.

Most of the time, now, if I am looking for specific information, I am not given the answer, but rather, an offer of books or articles to buy. And then the search begins. Sigh-h-h-h-h.

I promised myself I wouldn’t complain this week, so here is a little of what I was researching: I am an avid sports watcher, noting how so many rules of the three major games have changed over the years; especially in baseball.

When I first discovered baseball in the late '40s while home from school for two weeks with mumps, pitchers pitched the whole game, there was absolutely no questioning anyone: manager, umpire or referee, and no calls could be changed.

Today, pitchers never stay in the whole game, batters can question whether a pitch is a ball or a strike, and cameras are applied to verify. Often the call is reversed. No luck of the draw any more."Booing" the umpire is out.

During this bout of research, I also learned that between 96 and 120 balls are used during a baseball game. For football, each team provides 12 primary and 12 backup balls. In basketball, six balls are carefully checked for size, weight and bounce before a game.

All players are expected to have two different uniforms, parts of which are paid for by the team, and parts by the players. Some players want a new pair of shoes for each game; others may wear the same pair for the entire season. None of this is of any particular relevance, I am just not a person who can watch anything without knowing the whole story behind it.

The last Philharmonic concert of the season was spectacular. The whole of the orchestra was there, complete with children’s and adult choruses, former conductor, Eric Benjamin and children’s choir director, Laura Barkett. It was a challenging patriotic treat, accompanied by the real sounds of real rain, and so much talent. The people observer in me noticed some who were restlessly unfamiliar with the length and expectations of classical pieces, so I vowed to try to keep pushing for exposing children to every kind of music and art from the time they are very young. There were quite a large number of little ones there, some excited, some distracted and some sleeping. That is good. My mother always told us we should experience everything, if only to find out we don’t want to experience it again.

Dinner table conversations covered every topic imaginable, and music played all day in our house when I was growing up. There were equal shares of popular, orchestral and classical choruses. Piano lessons were classical. We knew the music by heart, thus giving us the enjoyment I experienced at the Philharmonic. We need to remember to expose our children and grandchildren….and great grandchildren…to everything that can enrich their lives. If attending an actual event is too expensive, (and it certainly can be these days) the radio can almost do it all. It is such a small effort for such a long-lasting result.