How inappropriate is modern music?
According to the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, quite a bit. Researchers analyzed Billboard magazine’s top 279 most popular songs of 2005 to determine what percentage of songs referenced tobacco, alcohol, and drug use. Here are some highlights from their findings:
- 1 in 3 songs portray substance use (33.3%)
>> 4 in 5 rap songs (77%)
>> 1 in 3 country songs (36%)
>> 1 in 5 R&B/hip-hop songs (20%)
>> 1 in 7 rock songs (14%)
>> 1 in 10 pop songs (9%) - 1 in 25 songs have antiuse messages (4%)
- The average adolescent is exposed to approximately 84 references to explicit substance use daily in popular songs, and this exposure varies widely by musical genre.
Although the study did not analyze the frequency of sex and violence in popular music, 46% of substance use references were associated with sex, and 29% were associated with violence. This should come as no surprise to youth pastors. But it is surprising from the perspective that the average teenager hears 588 messages a week about substance use compared to one message a week from the youth group. A youth pastor better make his message count.
[via Rolling Stone]
I am sure most of the stats were the same for rock and roll and now for rnb! Music is not just music as it shows with the stats, it is powerful!
absolutely amazing stats that parents should be aware of. Thanks for the post.
It is good to finally have some statistics to go along with what I have been teaching as a youth pastor for years. I approach it from the standpoint of “garbage in, garbage out”.
However, I differ on the conclusion that a youth pastor better make his message count.
On the contrary, I think that this is a call to parents to better monitor what they are letting their children’s minds dwell upon. Deuteronomy 6 teaches that parents should be helping their children focus their attention on scripture so that they can learn about His person, promises and instructions.
I cannot in one day undue the effects of 6 days of dwelling upon garbage in whatever form of popular media it is coming in. Music is just one of the onslaughts on children of promoting sex, drugs, violence and other negative things. Most parents are allowing all sorts of negative influences into their homes and into their children’s lives.
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I posted this on my facebook account and have gotten quite a discussion going among my friends.
Thanks Kent.
I am currently writing my final paper for my degree on the comparable effects on society (specifically youth population) of Music and Christianity and I find your comments very interesting. If you could spare me the time to look over the article which started the idea for me and post your response I would be hugely grateful.
The link is:
http://moses.creighton.edu/jrs/2005/2005-11.html
Adam,
I looked over the article, but I thought it approached such a broad topic too narrowly. More factors than were addressed play into how a nation’s culture evolves.
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