Racy Music and Your Kids
"Like it or not, every summer some ubiquitous tune will worm its way into your brain, and blare from every apartment and iPod.” So begins a recent New York Post piece, which listed music experts\' predictions for this year\'s big summer song.
Many of these singles are not only catchy, they’re racy: Among this year\'s top picks are "Promiscuous" by Nelly Furtado and "Sexy Back" by Justin Timberlake (with lyrics like “I’ll let you whip me if I misbehave,” this is the kind of song that makes you dive for the off button when it comes on the car radio as you’re driving the kids to swim lessons).
Dealing with kids and suggestive songs is never easy. I’ve certainly had my own moments, trying to explain certain sexual practices to my 12-year-old son -– or deciding whether or not to pick my battles with my high school-aged daughter.
Read on for some tips on surviving this summer’s spicy singles -– and dealing with mature music in any season:
"Like it or not, every summer some ubiquitous tune will worm its way into your brain, and blare from every apartment and iPod.” So begins a recent New York Post piece, which listed music experts\' predictions for this year\'s big summer song.
Many of these singles are not only catchy, they’re racy: Among this year\'s top picks are "Promiscuous" by Nelly Furtado and "Sexy Back" by Justin Timberlake (with lyrics like “I’ll let you whip me if I misbehave,” this is the kind of song that makes you dive for the off button when it comes on the car radio as you’re driving the kids to swim lessons).
Dealing with kids and suggestive songs is never easy. I’ve certainly had my own moments, trying to explain certain sexual practices to my 12-year-old son -– or deciding whether or not to pick my battles with my high school-aged daughter.
Read on for some tips on surviving this summer’s spicy singles -– and dealing with mature music in any season:
Do your homework: Before you buy a CD for your kids or hand over your credit card so they can download music on iTunes, do a little research. Read some reviews -- including those in our music channel, or on our Daily Download, a cheat sheet to the top pop picks -- to get a better idea of the content.
Each family is different, and it’s up to you to decide whether to forbid certain music or just talk over your concerns with your kids. But at least you’ll be making an educated decision.
Check in with your kids: Ask your son to plug in his iPod on the next family road trip, or sit down and watch TRL with your daughter. Not only will you get a better idea about what your kids are being exposed to, but by showing interest in their world, they might be more open to hearing your opinion.
Ask questions: You’ve got a right to share your perspective, but it never hurts to find out why your kids are interested in the first place. Each of our reviews comes with a Common Sense Note, which provides parents with ideas about how to talk to their kids about music.
Our notes often offer specific question suggestions (Do you think this album glamorizes violence? How does your kid feel about the way a song describes women?) and are designed to get kids to think about what they’re hearing. Sometimes an edgy lyric is worth it if it helps turns our kids into savvy media consumers and critical thinkers.
Share your own tips for dealing with racy music on our blog.
What kind of music rules-- if any -- do you have in your house?
There are 8 community opinions on this topic
First of all, CommonSenseMedia is ALWAYS going off about the portrayal of women in songs. Forgive my blatant misogyny, but, umm, whatever happened to gender equality? I hear plenty of songs portraying *men* (that's right, gasp with me) as stupid, lust-driven sex objects. Was does CSM have to say about these songs? How sad it is that women in our society rely on sex to be famous. WTF guys.
As for my house, my mom is kind of inconsistent with whether or not she cares what I listen to. She's more concerned about my rap-loving brother.
My parents used to monitor what radio stations I listened to, but now just let me listen to whatever I want because I'm older. The only reason they wouldn't let me listen to racy music is because they thought I might go around saying inappropriate things or not understand about what I'm saying. Now that I'm more mature, and I understand the lyrics, they just let me listen to whatever.
I just listen to music through my headphones =)
I just play whatever music I want. I like 3.am by Eminem, but because it's catchy, not cos it's about murder and drugs. And Shut me Up by Mindless Self Indulgence purely because of the awesome guitar and not the sexual innuendos.
I don't really think about the lyrics to songs, but I do understand them, and if I didn't, I wouldn't ask anyone, because some things are best left un-said, ya'll ^^
My mom is actually the one that listens to modern stuff like Coldplay. I don't find much interest in music like that, I like classical music and jazz. My all time fav song is Rhapsody in Blue, the music is so complex and interesting, it doesn't need things like racy lyrics to be enjoyable. I find most modern music to be boring and repetitive.
My parents don't mind, because (in the case of music, at least) they trust that I have good judgement, If a song with swearwords comes onto the radio, or the commentators start talking about s ex, then my mom will go 'eww!' and turn it off, and they'll comment if they don't like a song on my ipod, but they don't really monitor it.
my dad HATES it when I listen to my music but listen to anyway.I like it when he gets mad because i have complete control of him and so I listen to eminem any way cause I really dont give
My parents don't care what I'm listening to. My mom absolutly HATES my music. Whenever I have it playin out loud she tries to leave as soon a possible. But they don't care what it is. They don't even look at my music.
nope no music rules my mom doesn't give a crap about lyrics and my dad might say "what kinda s--t are you listening to?" but lets me listen to it. my parents turn off my music often if they don't like it (my mom HATES rap, luckily i don't like much of it either) but they don't care what comes out of my headphones which might as well be permenently glued to my ears