Check The Music Your Kids Listen…and Be Warned!

April 7, 2008

Parents are sometime caught unaware that our kids Ipod is loaded with music that may not be healthy to their social and emotional well being.  We know classical music soothes our body and improves health and mood but other kinds of music like rap or rock have been shown to have disturbing impact.

An article recently published in Addiction Research and Theory, April 2008 issue showed how the rise in drug wars could be contributed by the kinds of music these kids are exposed to.

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This article explores the role of changing images of drug use in rap music from the 1970s to the 1990s. A sample of 341 rap music lyrics were coded for drug mentions, behaviours and contexts; drug attitudes and consequences; and music genres.
  • The results show that from 1979-1997, songs with references to drugs increased over 6-fold;
  • those exhibiting positive attitudes and consequences rose substantially
  • references to particular drug types changed significantly.
  • increased references to using drugs to signify glamour, wealth and sociability.

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There you go guys… be careful with what music our kids listen to.  If rap music before warns about the dangers of drug use, apparently recent rap music tend to glorify drug use… and this message may not be the kinds of inspiration our kids need.  The increase in drug reference was pretty alarming increasing form a mere 10% in the early 70’s to >60% in early 90’s!!!!

Check the music videos your kids watch and the contents of their iPods… It is better to intervene early than be sorry for the effects of these music on our kids in their social skills and adult behavior!

To Intervene Or Not To Intervene….

 

 

4 Responses to “Check The Music Your Kids Listen…and Be Warned!”


  1. I just stopped by your blog and thought I would say hello. I like your site design. Looking forward to reading more down the road.

    Robert Michel

  2. Vangie Says:

    Doc,
    Does your kids watch the Naked Brothers Band in the Nickelodean channel? Check the lyrics of their songs. They have lyrics like”I don’t want to go to school”. Basta, the lyrics are not good for children. I have already told my kids not to watch the NAked Brothers Band.

  3. Doc Gerry Says:

    Fortunately, I did not put any cable in their rooms becuase there is no way I can monitor what they watch. So if they have to watch Cable, they go to our room and NOPE they dont watch that show. Thanks for informing the public about that show.


  4. […] Doc Gerry wrote an interesting post today on Check The Music Your Kids Listenâ¦and Be Warned!Here’s a quick excerptThis article explores the role of changing images of drug use in rap music from the 1970s to the 1990s. A sample of 341 rap music lyrics were coded for drug mentions, behaviours and contexts; drug attitudes and consequences; and music … […]


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