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Music Videos Debate

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Free Essay Submitted by bignerds on 06/28/2008 08:11 PM

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  • Category: Social Issues
  • Words: 912
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Music Videos Debate

Music is prominent in adolescent lives: teenagers spend between 4 and 5 hours a day listening to music and watching music videos 1 and name music listening as their preferred non-school activity. 2 Therefore, it is not surprising that government officials, researchers and parents alike are concerned about the impact of music on teenagers. Disturbed by the amount of violence portrayed in modern music, adults worry that these messages are contributing to the rise in violence among kids. Forty-eight percent (48%) of Americans say that violence in popular music should be more heavily regulated 3 and 59% would like to restrict violence in music. 4
Music Lyrics
Forty-seven percent (47%) of mothers with children in public schools believe that violent messages in rap music contribute "a great deal" to school violence, 5 and 66% of 13- to 17-year-olds believe violence in music is partly responsible for violent crimes like the 1999 Columbine High School shootings. 6 However, no studies have documented a cause-and-effect relationship between violent or sexually explicit lyrics and adverse behavioral effects. 7 Studies show that the preference for heavy metal music may be a significant indicator for alienation, substance abuse, psychiatric disorders, suicide risks, sex-role stereotyping, or risk-taking behaviors during adolescence, 8 but music is not the cause of these behaviors. It is hypothesized that teenagers already struggling with those issues may be attracted to heavy metal music, because the lyrics express their own troubled feelings.
Nonetheless, music may contribute to the atmosphere of violence that some argue is generated by popular media. Critics claim that music negatively affects teenagers by repeatedly exposing them to themes such as Satanism, substance abuse, murder, suicide and sexual violence, which may be heavily reinforced and normalized by the frequency of their portrayal. 9 Heavy metal and rap music are especially criticized for...

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