Advisories

Parental advisories

I do think that record companies should be responsible for putting parental advisories on the music they distribute. I think that they are the ones putting the music out to the general public so they should be the ones to put the advisories on it. They know better than anyone, except maybe the artist, what kind of content it has. As a consumer I depend on them to help me know what is ok for my children and what is not ok.
I think that the advisories work to a certain extent. I always look at the Parental advisories of the music I buy for my kids. I also check it on video games, movies and TV. I think that as a parent I find it very useful and extremely helpful. I do not want my 8 year old son playing a game that had prostitutes and gory violence. I do not think that he is old enough, nor mature enough, to fully understand exactly what is going on. However, I still do not think that it is appropriate for him. Without the advisories I would not know what songs are full of profanities with out listening to the entire CD. In the event that I did buy the CD, then listen to it and realize it is not appropriate for my son, I will have lost my money because you can t return then once they are opened.
On the other hand I have bought things, mostly video games, that are rated PG and I have found them completely unacceptable for my kids. I once bought a game for my boys and when I got it home the game was nothing but blood and guts. The charters were saying everything but curse words. I was totally shocked that it was rated PG. I learned that you can not totally relay on the parental advisories when choosing what to buy.
Another problem with them is that they do not really work with teenagers. My sister was buying and downloading what ever CD or songs she wanted regardless of the parental advisory. I do not think most stores would stop a teenager from buying a CD because of the parental advisory. I know that teenagers for the most part do not need the supervision like the younger kids but I still think it is important to monitor it somewhat.
As I have said before, I do believe that the record companies should put the advisories on the music. However, they are of no use if parents do not use them. I know many parents that think that it is perfectly fine to let their kids listen to anything because it is “just music”. Untimely it is up to the parents to say what their children can and can not listen to.

Influenced by music?

I think that music does influence the behavior of youth to some extent. I believe that many people do not realize just how susceptible kids are to what others are saying. Be it a mother to her son, teacher to her students or lyrics singing a song, they soak it all in. No matter what form it comes to them in. They are like sponges absorbing everything they hear. When kids listen to songs that degrade women and basically say don’t listen to authority, then they are going to be influenced by it. To what extent I think depends on many things. Like their morals, values and family life.

To group all kids together and say that music affects them the same would be wrong. I think that everyone is different and therefore they will be affected differently by things, be it music or any thing else. I think that kids that are in loving homes with good role models and being brought up to respect other will be less influenced by negative music than the kids that live in bad environments. I kind of think of music as a back ground force, it is there influencing the kids but not as much as many other things. This means that if kids have been raised with values that say respect others, listen to authority and follow the rules then music will have a minimal affect on them. However, kids that are raised with poor values that say it is ok to hit your spouse, rob a store, guns are good and cops are bad then the negative music will influence them a lot more. They will hear the lyrics as a confirmation that it is acceptable to do in those things in our society. Not only is it in their family but it is also being sung about on the radio.

I want to say, that I do not think that music is a major influence in most people’s lives. I do not think that listening to Goth music was the reason why the Columbine kids shot up there school or why some kids kill them selves. I think that in these extreme cases the kids have many other things going on in their lives and music is used as a scapegoat. In these cases people want to find “something” to blame, so they point their finger at music. However, there are thousands of kids that listen to the same music and they do not go to such extreme measures.

To wrap this up, I will say that we as parents do need to monitor what are children are listening too. I think it is really sad when I hear a 2 year old kid is singing about Bitches and Hoes. I know that they probably do not know what they are saying but one day they will. Maybe it will affect then and maybe it will not, but do you really think we should chance it? I know I don’t.

Bloom

When Bloom writes, "It is their passion; nothing else excites them as it does; they cannot take seriously anything alien to music", about young people I think he is wrong. It is a very bold statement to say that nothing else will excite them but music. There are many things in a teenager’s life that may excite them and that they may take seriously besides music, for example getting their drivers license, money to go shopping, prom, graduation and school are just a few. I think that he is over generalizing in this statement. I do not think that this pertains to all teenagers or young people, maybe some or even most, but not all. As a teenager I was not that passionate about music. I like it but I was not passionate by any means. Sure I listened to it, I had favorite songs, bands I liked, even a crush or two, but I was not consumed by it. I had many other hobbies that also kept my interest. As a teenager I was very interested in photography and making jewelry. I spent many hours on theses two hobbies. I probably listened to music while making the jewelry or organizing my photos but I was much more interested in them than the music I was listening too.

However, this statement would have fit my older sister very well. She loves and still does love music. She would spend hours listening to music and trying to learn how to play different instruments. She also would write her own songs and record them. She did not take any thing as serious as her music. She can play many different instruments and now is striving to work in the music industry. She is now and was then consumed with music.

In my opinion I think that if Bloom had made this statement about teenagers and the opposite sex I would have agreed much more with him but it still would be over generalizing. I think that if anything is their passion and excites them it would be the opposite sex. I know when I was in high school everything we did and did not do was because of the boys. If there was a dance we went to see the boys or we would not go to avoid the boys. It was never ending. I don’t know if it was that way for everyone but it sure seemed like it. I have a younger sister and it was the same thing for her and her friends. All they talked about was the boys and when the boys came over all they talked about were the girls. Even my husband agrees that all the teenage boys think about is the girls.

I think that when ever someone makes a blanket statement about a group of people it is over generalizing because all people are different. So what one person likes another person may dislike. So to say that all young people have a passion for music would be incorrect.