Frisco is a community dominated mainly by sports, so much so that you cannot go anywhere without hearing somebody talking about last night’s game. No matter where I am, I am always confronted with questions such as “What’s your favorite team?”, “Did you see the game last night?”, “What’s your favorite sport?”.

Sports seem to be all that people in Frisco talk about. This can lead to many “artsy” people feeling left out of conversations. In the Frisco community, people don’t often discuss subjects such as art, theater, or dance. The minority that is interested in those topics can often feel alone and confused and may even feel as though this community is completely devoid of the arts.

Frisco needs more of the arts; it’s that plain and simple. Up in places such as New Jersey where my family is from, you cannot go anywhere without hearing about the arts. The arts bring a culture that we have very little of here. Not to say that Frisco is fully devoid of imagination, which it is not. I only mean to say that with the arts, you get a culture unlike anything else here.

Back in New Jersey, as a result of being right on the border of New York, the home of Broadway, there are classes and workshops offered to kids everywhere. There is an equal emphasis placed on sports and the arts, which is exactly the way it should be. It is an equal divide right down the middle, with neither receiving the higher praise.

Here, however, that is unfortunately not the case. Kids often feel pressured by their parents at a young age to take up sports as their main hobby. A child who does not feel inspired to deck up in football gear every night and run around for hours on end often feel that if they don’t, they will be regarded as a failure. This is all because of the community in which we live.

If the arts were more prevalent in Frisco, children would have more opportunities. If one does not wish to play sports, then there would be several more options to try out. The arts give kids a wide range of options of things to do and try. However, in Frisco, those options are greatly reduced.

The schools contribute to this problem a lot. This is not to say that schools have insufficient arts programs, because that is not the case at all. It is more of an informal problem.

For example, how many times during the fall do you hear a teacher ask, “Are you going to the football game tonight?” Probably a lot. Now, how many times do you hear a teacher say, “Are you going to the band concert tonight?” How about, “Are you going to see the play tonight?” From my experience, never.

These students put in just as much work as the athletes, and bring a great culture to our school. They deserve to be recognized just as much as the athletes do.

Because of this, schools should begin to put a bit more of an emphasis on the arts. When they do, students will begin to realize that they are perfectly free to take part in any activity that they want, and that they will not be judged or treated like a failure for it.

If more of an emphasis were placed on the arts, Frisco would become a much more fun place. We would see a growing interest in things other than sports and kids would have more options. We need the arts, and that’s all there is to it.