Effects of Modern Music on Children - Essay Example

Music has taken over young people and has become part of their lives; moreover, modern music has taken many forms and keeps on changing depending on what is considered current and fashionable. This has led to various forms of modern music like rap, hip-hop, rock, reggae and so much more, in addition, it has led to music being the second most popular form of media, the only TV commands a comparable degree of teen loyalty, as a University of Iowa team noted in a 2003 study1.These different forms of modern music have heavily influenced the various aspects of many children’s lives.

77 per cent of rap music that was studied referred to alcohol and drug abuse, moreover, girls aged between 14 and 18 that watched these music videos were one and half times more likely to drink and use drugs2. Rap music also makes frequent references to guns and shootings, robbery and violence and revenge gang attacks against rival gangs that tend to influence and promote violent behavior. This is as opposed to children who are taught to listen to classical music by the likes of Mozart and Mendelssohn, which tend to be more successful and college prepared than those that have not been trained to listen to such kind of music4.

The argument about whether or not music negatively affects children is inconclusive because, while some findings suggest music, for example, rap advocate violent behavior some findings suggest that music can be used as an anti-violent tool where rap was used for an anti-violence function in South Bronx, New York neighbourhoods in the late 1970s5.