To What Extent are Teenagers Influenced by Popular Music - Essay Example

Running Head: Popular Music influence Teenagers Popular Music influence Teenagers [Institute’s Popular Music influence Teenagers For thousands of years, music has been influencing and providing a platform of entertainment for the human race. Music has been referred as a universal language, which can be understood by everyone without any confrontation. However, such universal language has been criticized and blamed for unconstructive influence on the lives of teenagers around the globe. Particularly, in the Western countries, some of the music like rap, hip-hop, metal, etc. has been blamed for a large number of crimes and murders in different cities. In this regard, this paper will focus on the influence of popular music, especially rap and metallic songs that have affected teenagers adversely in different parts of the world. (Callahan, pp. 19-23, 2005) Nowadays, one of the favorite recreational activities for the teens is listening different categories of music with their family members, friends, and in their leisure time. Music is not an issue; however, when an activity or a hobby becomes addictive, it results in the creation of a concern towards it. Similarly, when the teens start listening of music, especially rap and metallic music every other time, it creates a sense of insecurity in terms of their behavior and future. In the year 1998, one of the faculty members of Simon Fraser University carried out a study on the teens that listen to music of different categories. The results of that study showed that rap songs made twenty-five percent of teens addicted to it. In addition, all those teens showed great changes in their behavior, which was not in a positive manner. (Mueller, pp. 23-25, 1999) Furthermore, a number of studies have shown that worse academic results are shown by the teens that listen to rap and metallic songs according to the National Institute on Media and Family. It is indicated by the researches that violent songs are preferred by more than seventy-five percent of teens that are interested in listening to music. One of the schools in Texas carried out a study of teens that were interested in music, and it found out that teachers complained of frequent arguments from the students that were involved in listening to violent music at homes. In some cases, teens were even involved in physical fights with their teachers and classmates that is a major concern of the schools, as well as, the parents. In specific, studies have shown that gender does not play a major role in the behavioral changes after listening to violent songs. It was observed that eighty percent of teenage girls that were involved in listening to violent popular songs argued with their teachers and classmates, as compared with the eighty-three percent of boys in the same category. Thus, it shows that gender does not play any role in such case. (Kirsh, pp. 63-66, 2006) In this regard, the Institute for Child Psychology has provided a checklist for the parents that observe aggressive behavior in their teen kids that put their time on playing excessive violent songs and watching violent media. In this regard, violent signs can be identified by the parents and adequate steps can be taken to reduce the aggressiveness in the teens. In other words, it is very imperative that such teens should get proper counseling from their parents, as well as, the schools, as violent music like rap, metallic, hip-hop affect their mental health and thus, appropriate addressing should be provided to the kids. Nowadays, potential negative effects have been indicated by a number of health organizations that has created great concern from the parents. One of the researches has shown that popular songs are created according to a number of strategies that include child psychology, which helps the music companies to attract the teens in an addictive manner. According to a child psychologist, teenage girls and boys are likely to get addicted to things that allow or facilitate them to portray and express their skills that are not recognized by others. Popular music and especially rap and metallic music provide a platform for the teenagers to express their physical strength that cannot be expressed in homes or schools. (Washburne, pp. 59-62, 2004) In this regard, parents and schoolteachers should give proper attention to every teen, and it should be ensure that every student should be appreciated in times of a good work, and be counseled in times of need. It is observed that teenage girls and boys are more likely to get addicted to the popular music, when they are not provided any other source of energy such as sports, family discussions, co-curricular activities, etc. Nowadays, parents are very much busy, and they prefer babysitter to take care of their teen kids, in order to give time to their business or other activities. It is proved that more than fifty percent of teens do not get proper attention from their parents, which results in their endeavor to locate a new arena to express their inner feelings. (Mattson, pp. 38-40, 2003) The General Aggression Model is one of the effective methodologies that facilitate the understanding of aggressive behavior from the confrontation of popular music and violent media. A teen goes through a developmental process during his music listening, and different teens are affected on short-term and long-term bases. In this regard, impact of popular music can be reduced by the proper study and understanding of different strategies that can be implemented to eliminate the aggression from a teenage boy or girl. In the year 2004, a study was carried out by a school in which, teenage girls and boys were asked to listen to violent and non-violent music on random basis. The study selected fifty teenage students that comprised twenty-five boys and twenty-five girls. The students played different violent and non-violent video songs for a month, and their behavioral changes were investigated and monitored for the period. It was observed that teenage students that were involved in the playing of the non-violent music showed positive improvements in their mental and physical health. (Hallam, pp. 49-53, 2006) In addition, they showed better academic results, and were able to create effective relationships with their teachers and classmates. On the other hand, teenage girls and boys that listened to rap and metallic songs with abusive language and sexual themes showed worse results, as compared with their counterparts that listened to soft and non-abusive music. Teenage students with the violent music showed aggressive and violent behavior in their classes, and showed worse academic results, as compared with their previous academic performances. Furthermore, teachers observed adverse changes in their behavior and complained of frequent arguments from such teens. Moreover, parents observed similar behavioral changes in their kids that were listening to rap and metallic music. In this regard, it was proved that rap and metallic music play a vital and crucial role in the creation of aggression and violence in teens adversely. (Washburne, pp. 33-37, 2004) Recently, two different categories of music were played by the teens for a period of forty minutes. Increased activity and growth in the emotional arousal was observed in the teens that listened to rap and metallic songs. On the other hand, teens that listened to classical or jazz music showed normal activity of emotional arousal in their bodies. Amygdala is a substance in the body that is considered for the expression of emotional arousal, and activity of such substance is increased adversely at times of violence. Similar increment was observed when the kids were listening to violent music. Therefore, it has been proved scientifically that popular music does play a significant role in allowing the aggressive behavior of the teens. (Mattson, pp. 40-42, 2005) As earlier mentioned in the paper, it is very difficult to restrict children from music listening from the scratch, as the music has become very much popularized in the present era. However, the negative impact of popular music can be reduced by a number of steps that can be taken for the improvement of lives of thousands of teens. In this regard, rating of music albums should be studied by parents, and musical equipments should not be installed in child’s bedroom. Moreover, teenagers should be allowed to listen to music of their interest for a limited period, and media consumption should be monitored by the parents. Music plays a vital role in the personal and spiritual development of a child; however, violent music plays a crucial role in the negative development of teenagers, and therefore, it is imperative that parents and teachers should play an effective role in the reduction of negative impact of such music. It is hoped that this paper will be beneficial for the students, teachers, experts, and nonprofessionals in the better understanding of the subject. References Christopher Washburne. (2004). Bad Music. Routledge (UK). Mark Paul Mattson. (2003). Neurobiology of Aggression. Humana Press. Mat Callahan. (2005). the Trouble with Music. AK Press. Steven J. Kirsh. (2006). Children, Adolescents, and Media Violence. Sage Publications. Susan Hallam. (2006). Music Psychology in Education. Institute of Education. Walt Mueller. (1999). Understanding Today’s Youth Culture. Tyndale House Publishers. Word Count: 1412 Words Checked by Turnitin.com & Copyscape.com Read More