When I was in middle school, I remember many of my friends branching out into different music genres. Rather than the calm and reserved religious artists we had grown up with, my friends began pursuing the sort of artists who favored screaming or "roaring" mid-song. Their lyrics were often violent or blunt compared to, let's say, the soothing lines of Casting Crowns or Jars of Clay. These lyrics contained problematic relationships, cheating, sex, drugs, alcohol, murder, etc. Their interests also wandered to artists like 50 Cent, where going to the "Candy Shop" had nothing to do with getting Skittles or a Snickers bar.
My "boyfriend" at the time (it wasn't much of a relationship due to such an age difference) was in high school and introduced me to the bands KORN and Slipknot. Keep in mind that I attended a private school for my entire life and came from a religious home. Just imagine my surprise when the "F word" was thrown around so casually. Before listening to these artists, I had maybe heard the word no more than five times. (I'm sure the word "sheltered" is now coming to your mind.) Jeremy Camp or Relient K would never sing lyrics like those! In attempt to grasp my boyfriends approval, I drowned myself in his music. As a result, my vocabulary grew; this was not a positive growth, I assure you. My language became vulgar for a young girl in middle school and it was mainly due to this new music I was indulging myself in. My attitude towards life became darker and I dressed like I thought I could take on the world. I cut off my hair and would use gel to "spike" it in the back. I wore primarily red and black and would accessorize with silver studded belts and bracelets, etc. (Please keep in mind that I'm not degrading anyone who dresses this way, because I actually do like this style; this was just not the way that I had been raised to dress or present myself).
Music can have a huge impact on an individual's lifestyle and behavior. I'm not saying that music can't have a good impact on someone; however, I'm simply going to focus on a few of the negatives for now. Simply listening to those two bands took me from a sweet little girl to using words from a sailor's vocabulary and thinking that I didn't need anything or anybody. If a young person constantly listens to music promoting sleeping around and how much fun it is, that lifestyle will be appealing to them and they will most likely pursue it. If "Toot It and Boot It" (YG) is such a popular hit, wouldn't acting it out be just as much fun? People, youth especially, will listen to a song and feel as though it can relate to them somehow; if they like a song enough they may make the attempt to reverse it and relate to it, instead. If they are exposed to something enough, that something will become a part of them. Whether it is language, sex, drugs, or alcohol, a song can make anything sound appealing to the impressionable and vulnerable. If a "Good Girl Gone Bad" (Rihanna) mentality is engraved into a young girl's mind as being sexy and desirable, it is no wonder when she begins to dress like a prostitute at the age of thirteen. While youth should be free to listen to good music, it is a parent's responsibility to teach them about the difference between just listening and applying.
I completely agree when you say that is it the parents responsibility to teach their kids how to just listen and not to copy what people say. Even still music can change a person, sometime for the better and other times the worse, but it really all depends on the person. I grew up listening to only country music and I have always been a country girl at heart, but as I got older I started to listen to other things. Just like you described, I had a boyfriend who listened to different music and he introduced me to metal and punk music. I found out I liked the music and the people I met though the music but I did not pick up bad habits from it. I did hear a lot of bad language that I normally didnt but I knew that I was not the kind of person that needed to use this these words. The older I get the more music I listen to and I do not confine myself to one genre, I like some of everything. But I do not run my life based on the music I listen to, I try not to be influenced by the music.
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