Posted by
arandomguy on Monday, August 07, 2006 11:39:01 PM
This is really no surprise, at least to me. According to a new study, teens whose IPOD's are crammed full of raunchy, sexually explicit lyrics are more likely to have sex earlier than teens who listen to other types of music. Though the type of music was irrelevant in the study, a majority of the sexually explicit lyrics comes from the hip-hop and rap genres of music.
The worst lyrics are those that portray men as sex-charged maniacs, and women as objects of sexual desire. Teens listening to lyrics that portary people as such were more then 51% more likely to start having sex within two years, compared to 29% of those who said they listen to no or little sexually degrading music.
Though this is not a surprise to me, it must be looked at carefully. There are some who call for censorship of all degrading material. In a perfect world, that would be nice, but we do not live in a perfect world. You cannot censor music any more than you can censor the internet. However, there is a responsibility involved with these lyrics, both by the parent and by the child.
Children must learn that even if a song is sexually explicit, that does not mean it is Ok. They must learn what the sexual norms of society are, and they must be taught that men are not all sex-charged maniacs, and to act like one puts you at odds with normal society. Male children must further understand that females are not there just to please them.
That said, the parents have a responsibility as well. And theirs is twofold. First, they must know what kind of music their kids listen to. They must set limits as to what kind of music is acceptable and what kind of music is unacceptable, depending on the maturity of their child, as well as the age. If a parent is kept out of the loop, they cannot expect to do any decent parenting.
Parents should also take the time to explain to their children why the material they are listening to is wrong, and exactly what is wrong with it. This is time consuming and uncomfortable to many parents, but it must be done. Children and Teens must understand that sex is normal, but the way sex is portrayed in these songs is not, and that it is often even criminal to act out sex in the ways these songs portray.