Here’s an original song and music video from a graduate of the Berklee College of Music. Eric Barao writes and sings on the single.
Junior high and high school are tough transitions for most people; bullying is one of the more extreme ways some experience this period.
Eric’s video didn’t start out as a plea for arts education, but I can see how important it was to the artist to have a way to express something meaningful to him and to reach out to kids who are having a hard time. When we cut choir, band, orchestra, jazz band, visual art, ceramics, literary journals, school newspapers, theatre departments, dance, and other arts education from our public schools because test-driven teaching crowds them out, we’re depriving young people of important ways of expressing themselves at times when they might need it the most.
Thanks for the song, Eric!
The music and art departments in junior high and high school were my only place of refuge, where I felt safe and had a means of expression. I don't know what I would have done without them. Thanks so much for sharing the video! Working with the student actors who brought it all to life was incredibly rewarding.. – eric