This week, my son has decided that he wants to learn to play the bass guitar. These things cost at £250 plus extra for lessons so it’s not a cheap hobby to take up. While I am all for encouraging musical activities and know that it will have a beneficial influence on his character, I don’t want to fork out a large sum of money if this is just a whim. What if he plays it for month and then leaves in the attic to gather dust? When I explained this to the guy at the music store he said “you have to make sure he continues to play” and he didn’t think £250 was a lot of money.
Anyway, I have decided to get him a normal guitar (cost £30) to try and if he likes it and perseveres with it, I will get him the bass.
I talked with someone about this recently, who puts more value into “vocational” and character building activities like guitar playing, theatre school and sports. She talked about what instrument her son was playing and how wonderful his coach was. He was doing a different after school activity every day. But when I asked what her levels her son was in English and maths, she didn’t know and wasn’t too bothered about it.
When parents have those kinds of priorities, I cannot be surprised that students don’t consider their academic education very important. But I do wonder if I have my priorities in the right place? If I had £250 pounds to spare, I would invest in academic enrichment activities without hesitation. What would you do?