Classically Crime Free?

Posted by Sarah Canice Funke Jun 30, 2007

Forget basketball teams: orchestra teams are the new way to keep poor kids off the streets. El Sistema, a program started 32 years ago in Caracas, Venezuela, has given thousands of underprivileged children access to instruments and a chance to perform in a youth orchestra. Now Scottish officials want to import the idea to the Northern Hemisphere.

Dubbed the "El Sistema" initiative, the program will be tested for five years in Raploch, a district in Stirling known for high incidents of crime. Richard Holloway, interim chairman of Creative Scotland, will head the program. The target children will be under five years old. After the five year test period, the children should be able to train their peers, said Susan Carragher, head of libraries, learning, communities and culture.

For more information, please see the BBC story.

The new initiative begs the question: is there anything about music itself that prevents crime, or are these kids simply too busy to learn pickpocketing? Or perhaps giving kids a useful skill and the ability to work hard helps them transition into a part of society that finds it profitable to obey the law.