Is explicit material harmful to kids?

  Is explicit music and television bad for children? There are two sides to this argument. The side that says this is very harmful, and the side that says either no, or that it’s only a little. Why do people take this situation so seriously? Adults pay so much attention to what children listen and watch because they fell that it can influence the kids to do bad things, or to think about things in a negative way. That is why they are concerned. Ultimately, kids will be ok with seeing most of the violent and sexual tv, and the same goes for explicit music. The kids will be affected little to none.

      The website Dailymail.co.uk has a story about a study on this topic. This story says that kids copy the verbal aggression that they see, as well as the physical violence that they see. This worries adults because this could lead to bullying and violence if kids really are that influenced. Not only that, according to psychologytoday.com, multiple sexual images can make a person act sexually active before they are ready. Because a lot of time the sexual content in entertainment is not portayed the best way, it can make kids think that it is ok and consequence-free. Also, boys who see graphic sexual content are 3x more likely to enagage in sexual acts then boys who haven’t. So, this side has some points. Not only that, apa.org says that violent tv can make young people more aggressive, and less social. Not only that, they can actually start to have more fear about the world they live in. But, still, there are ways to avoid that. Even if Leonard Eron, who is a Senior Research Scientist, is right about TV being respsonsible for 10% of the violence among young people, there is a way to prevent that without banning kids from seeing violent or sexual things.

   Many people feel that it is ok for kids to listen to explicit music and watch these type of tv shows. An author on madamenoir.com said that she doesn’t really censor her kids from her music. When her daughter was 3, she cursed towards one of the songs. She told her daughter that foul language is only for adults to use, and she hasn’t cursed since. Madamenoir.com is trustworthy because it is about black women’s lifestyles, so they talk about things like mothering. It’s obvious that this came from a real mother’s experience. On boards.straightdope.com, a mom asked whether she should let her 13 year old son listen to metal music, and a lot of people said yes, one mentioning that he sounds to be a kid without many behavior issues. That was justification to let him listen to the music. On todaysparent.com, one dad named Eric Alper said that he does let his kid listen to explicit music because he wants to be a cool dad, and not be the type that shuts her away from certain music. Also, psycnet.apa.org says that minors have their views on sexual activity don’t change that much when they hear explicit music. They gathered a group of people to listen to explicit music, then a censored version of that song, and then a non sexual song. The people still had similar views about women and sexuality. That really defeats the people saying that it does change the views of people, since this is coming from psychology website.

     Sometimes, the kids don’t understand song lyrics. On todaysparent.com, one dad named Eric Alper said, “It doesn’t matter if she doesn’t understand what she’s singing – I’m just happy that she’s singing.” It is true that kids don’t always understand song lyrics. There is another example from commonsensemedia.org. The author of the article said that her 8 year old kid wanted to download “Whistle” by Flo Rida. The song was about oral sex, but the kid thought it was about blowing whistles. That is why she let daughter download the song. On circleofmoms.com, one mom asked when will her 15 year old be old enough to hear explicit music. One person said the daughter would rebel. Another said that if she’s a good kid, she should be ok. And another brought up how people used to be against Elvis and The Beatles. Those things are all true. If a teen is mature, he/she can handle any type of music. Same with a kid. People have been hearing inappropriate things for a long time, and they have turned out fine. If a mature person sees another person eat food off of the floor, that person won’t join in. Same goes with entertainment. Morals need to be shown to these kids so they don’t go wild when they see & hear different things. The entertainment can’t be blamed for the way our children came out. If children are raised right, they will turn out fine. If the kids start acting out, the parents need to fix it by having a discussion. If that doesn’t work, therapy or grounding will probably solve the problem. Nothing will influence them for the worse after that. It is the parent's’ responsibility. If 10% youth violence is caused by TV, then parents need to fix that. They need to sit down next to their kids and tell them what is right and what is wrong. They need to promote positivity, and explain why violence is wrong. They also need to tell them why they are too young to be having sex, as well as too young for alcohol and drugs.

For all of the kids who are affected, the real question is how are these parents raising their kids. That’s the problem. If parents talk to their kids about right and wrong, and make sure their kids are mature before letting them watching certain things, they will be ok. The stuff then will have little to no effect on the child. If not, the explicit music and tv shows could become the parents. It is the parents responsiblity to prevent this. Parents and gaurdians need to be involved in their lives as much as possible. If parents do that, the rest will take care of itself. If the parents don’t do this, their kids could end up crazy or sexually active, and then parents will end up blaming tv and music when it’s not the artists or the tv show’s’ fault. It’s actually theirs. The suggestions mentioned in this paper will have kids being able to watch and hear what they want, and have them not turn to do negative things. Parents can prevent most of this from happening by just talking to their kids, as well as being involved in their lives. Simple actions can lead to massive results. That is the conclusion.

Works Cited

"Should I Let My 13-year Old Listen to These Heavy Metal Groups? - Straight Dope Message Board." Straight Dope Message Board RSS. 26 Jan. 2010. Web. 9 Oct. 2015. <http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=549506>.

"At What Age Should I Allow My 15 Yo to Listen to Explicit Lyrics?" Circle of Moms. Web. 9 Oct. 2015. <http://www.circleofmoms.com/welcome-circle-moms/at-what-age-should-i-allow-my-15-yo-to-listen-to-explicit-lyrics-476704>.

Howard, Cori, and Eric Alper. "The Debate: Do You Let Your Kids Listen to Explicit Music? - Today's Parent." Todays Parent. Rogers Media, 2 May 2012. Web. 9 Oct. 2015. <http://www.todaysparent.com/family/parenting/the-debate-do-you-let-your-kids-listen-to-explicit-music/>.

Clark, Laura. "Cartoon Violence 'makes Children More Aggressive'" Mail Online. Associated Newspapers, 5 Mar. 2009. Web. 9 Oct. 2015. <http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1159766/Cartoon-violence-makes-children-aggressive.html>.

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Filucci, Sierra. "My Daughter Wants to Download Raunchy Music." Common Sense Media. 28 May 2013. Web. 8 Nov. 2015.

"Explicit Lyrics: Do You Censor The Music Your Kids Listen To?" MadameNoire RSS. 13 June 2014. Web. 12 Oct. 2015. <http://madamenoire.com/561276/explicit-lyrics-do-you-censor-the-music-your-kids-listen-to/>.

"Sex, Violence, and Profanity in the Media Fact Sheet, TV Statistics - Parents Television Council." Sex, Violence, and Profanity in the Media Fact Sheet, TV Statistics - Parents Television Council. Web. 12 Oct. 2015. <http://www.parentstv.org/PTC/facts/mediafacts.asp>.

"Psychologists Study Media Violence for Harmful Effects." Apa.org. Web. 12 Oct. 2015. <http://www.apa.org/action/resources/research-in-action/protect.aspx>.

Sprankle, Eric L., and Christian M. End. "The Effects of Censored and Uncensored Sexually Explicit Music on Sexual Attitudes and Perceptions of Sexual Activity." Http://psycnet.apa.org/. Web. 12 Oct. 2015. <http://psycnet.apa.org/index.cfm?fa=buy.optionToBuy&id=2009-07965-002>.