THE NEGATIVE IMPACT OF MUSIC ON YOUTHS.
Many youths get easily influenced during adolescence. Music is highly influential can create negative impacts on youths. Constant exposure to negative issues such as sex, drugs and violence can lead to undesirable behaviors. Thus, youths imitate these negative acts due to repeated portrayals by the media. .
Music is significant in adolescent lives. Most teenagers "spend an average 4 to 5 hours a day listening to music or watching music videos." [1] Therefore, music plays an important role in the development of these youths. I will discuss about music lyrics and music videos and how these create an impact on youths over the decades. I will also look at the possible ways of dealing with this rising issue.
MUSIC LYRICS.
Music lyrics are an important part of music. It contains messages and feeling that the singer wants to convey to the listeners. There are many genres of music that sends out different kinds of messages. Love, peace, freedom, violence and anger are some of the messages that can be spread through music lyrics. .
Music lyrics have become increasingly explicit over the decades. Songs make common graphic references to sex, drugs and violence, unlike the past where sensitive issues were cleverly veiled. However, disturbing lyrics and the amount of violence portrayed in some modern music are becoming a great concern to many adults. .
Over the past four decades, lyrics in rock music have undergone dramatic changes. It is more explicit with reference to drugs, violence and sex. Studies show that "preference for heavy metal music may a significant indicator for alienation, substance abuse, psychiatric disorders, suicide risks, sex-role stereotyping, or risk taking behaviors during adolescence." [1] .
"Forty-seven percent (47%) of mothers with children in public schools believe that violent messages in rap and rock music contribute " a great deal" to school violence "[2].