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December 3, 2008 3:05 pm PST

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Tribe

July 30, 2008

‘Dirty’ music needs regulation

By Nathaniel Barzideh, Tribe Contributor

It amazes me that regardless of one's age, gender or personality, music has the capacity to influence everyone. Songs have tremendous power over the human mind and carry potency to bring back memories, provide emotional comfort or change one's mood. People turn to slow music in search of relaxation and shift to faster music to energize themselves. Musicologists have discovered that music can affect metabolic rates, blood pressure, energy levels and digestion.

Considering music's power to influence, the foul quality of contemporary music deeply alarms me. Recently, I was shocked to find out that "back in the day," television stations did not display Elvis Presley from the waist down, as broadcasters deemed his constant hip swiveling inappropriate. Today, half of the music videos played on MTV contain provocatively dressed women dancing erotically. Society's standards for "appropriate content" have decreased dramatically.

Growing up in an era where almost everyone owns an MP3 player, music and music videos have become a part of life for many teens like myself. Studies estimate that teenagers listen to music for roughly two hours daily. Many songs popular among teens (especially in the rap genre) advocate and glamorize the abuse of drugs and alcohol. Research done by the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine suggests that music is a pervasive source of exposure to images of drug use. To top that, many of the lyrics encourage the use of violence and weapons and depict sex in a manner that devalues women.

Being that sex, violence and substance abuse are at the forefront of damaging activities my generation faces, it boggles my mind that society turns a blind eye when developing youngsters are exposed to songs with harmful themes. Society frowns upon teenage sex, substance abuse and violence, but it tolerates that teens constantly hear songs that preach the reverse message. Teenagers are susceptible to the vices depicted in these songs, and they should be taming, not stimulating them.

Many people argue that music, regardless of its quality, has a neutral effect on behavior. Indeed, for some teenagers this notion may hold true. I have numerous friends who listen to "trashy" music and yet have never used drugs, had sex or engaged in violence. However, not everyone's behavior can remain unscathed. Studies have shown that men who listen to misogynistic music are approximately 30 percent more likely to behave with sexual aggression toward women. Even if listening to dirty music only sways a small minority of adolescents to engage in detrimental activities, each teen is one too many.

If the government can create a regulation that forbids television stations from airing cigarette ads, then why not also ban pro-sex, pro-violence and pro-drug songs from being heard by kids? A 30-second television commercial is nothing compared to the countless instances in a given day where a teen listens to a song that encourages drug use.

Unfortunately, under the first amendment, the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) only has the authority to regulate broadcasts, and does not have power to prohibit record companies from simply recording obscene music. Still, the FCC must use its limited power to stop MTV from airing profanity.

While record labels display parental advisory warnings, this does little, if not nothing, in the way of blocking anyone from attaining inappropriate music. With programs such as iTunes, Napster and LimeWire, all types of music are easily accessible to the general public. Accordingly, the government must enact stricter legislation that forces such programs to deny unrestricted access to minors. While such measures are obviously not foolproof, they will definitely go a long way in preventing dirty music from falling into the wrong hands.

But the government rarely amends flaws within society unless pushed to do so. The responsibility lies on humanity's conscientious adults to take action. As Jews who belong to a religion that espouses morality and is a beacon of good family values, we cannot stand on the sidelines. It is our ethical duty to let our voices be heard in attempting to preserve the ideals that we believe in.

On a final note, I would like to conclude with the wise counsel of acclaimed rapper, Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson: "Get rich or die trying."

Now, do we really want malleable minds getting this kind of advice?



Nathaniel Barzideh is in the 11th grade at YULA high school for boys.





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Tribe, a page by and for teens, appears the first issue of every month in The Jewish Journal. Ninth- to 12th-graders are invited to submit first-person columns, feature articles or news stories of up to 800 words. Deadline for the September issue is Aug. 15; deadline for the October issue is Sept. 15. Send submissions to julief@jewishjournal.com.

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