Music and Adolescents

Music has always been associated with adolescents in one way or another. Whether it’s a parent telling their children to turn the stereo down or a group of kids gathered around a boom box in the street, music is something that seems to unite most young people today. The problem that concerns many parents, however, is the ideas that are portrayed in some lyrics and music videos.
Most people don’t stop to think about what effects the music they listen to might have on them. They don’t think about the consequences of listening to certain rap or rock lyrics when they go to the store to buy a new CD. They don’t wonder if the thoughts and ideas in the music are going to influence them in some way negatively. Most people just buy it because they enjoy it.
For as long as rock music has existed, people have found reasons to define it as the evil of society, a plague that infects the young. Even Elvis with his gyrating hips, although tame compared to today, had his music...