Music's Negative Influence

         Music is very influential in the lives of many. Previously I have discussed that in most cases, music isn't the sole reason a teen or child is "bad." There is a part that music plays in everyone's life tho. If a child or teen is acting out it isn't BECAUSE of the music but I'm sure it inspires them to do what they want. In other words, if a child has bad intentions the music he/she will chose to listen to will match their intent.
       There are millions of different types of music and even more songs created every day. There is a song to fit every mood, ever occasion, every situation, every feeling. When we're young, things are constantly changing in our lives. Most of these changes are internal. As a child goes through puberty, and growth spurts they're bodies and hormones are constantly changing. Each young person takes these changes differently. Some are calm and stable with the changes and some are shaken and react in a rebellious manner. Music always understands.
        For a teen that stays on the straight edge and doesn't act out against authority and start experimenting with the idea of freedom, one song isn't going to change the way they carry themselves. Music isn't going to "brainwash" a good kid and make them into a hell train by any means. On the other hand, that straight edged teen probably won't be looking to crazy music to understand their anxiety. A confused teen that feels misunderstood or lonely is more likely to turn to music that hates on the rest of the world. For example, punk rock has been most known to reach out to that teen audience but that isn't the one and only genre that promotes bad behavior. Rap music almost glorifies drug dealing and promiscuous women and reaches out to the lower income areas. It almost makes the kids in gangs feel like a big celebrity like Snoop Dogg would be proud. Pop music has been known to also promote promiscuous behavior amongst younger generations. These genres and the artists that exhibit them are making this bad behavior, by many definitions, "cool." This is not beneficial, I agree. It is also to important to keep in mind, music may be condoning the behavior but it isn't going to "ruin" a good kid. If your kids are gang-banging and drug-dealing, there are bigger problems to be dealt with than their musical selection. If a young girl is renting out her body for sexual matters she has much bigger issues than watching Britney Spears shake her butt on a music video, such as her lack of self-respect and dignity and that goes much deeper than any song or TV show. If a kid is drinking at a young age and worshiping the devil, they either don't KNOW what they are doing or they have had more reference than some screaming song about hating life.
        Just because you hear your children singing along to the music and dancing to the beats, doesn't mean they are going to start worshiping the devil or prostituting themselves or become a drug dealing pimp. Most of the kids that listen to the music on the radio aren't listening to the words in most cases anyway. Another point I want to make is if a young person has been raised on a strong foundation of morals the chances of them hearing a song and changing everything they have come to believe is a 1 in a million chance. Does it happen? Yes. Sometimes there is nothing a parent can do to stop their child from rebelling and acting out in extreme manners but keep in mind if they are going to act out they are going to do it with or without music's inspiration. Music has the power to inspire some acting out and has the potential to put a few bad ideas in kids heads but at the end of the day it is about who the youth is and how they have been raised that is going to determine whether they embark on bad behavior and gear their life the wrong way.