This is hardly news to any conscientious parent, but it
is something that should be emphasized time and again. Two recent
studies make
the connection between the type of music teenagers listen to and the
attitudes
they develop and carry out in life. A Rand Corp. study on raunchy music
lyrics
found that kids who listen to music with degrading sexual content were
much
more likely to have teenage sex. Among heavy listeners, 51% started
having sex
within 2 years, compared to 29% of those who said they listened to
little or no
sexually degrading music. Steven Martino, a researcher for Rand Corp.
states,
“We think it really lowers kids’ inhibitions and
makes them less thoughtful
about sexual decisions, and may influence them to make decisions they
regret.”
An earlier study by the University
of North Carolina’s
Teen
Media Center
looked at all music, not just
raunchy lyrics, and came up with similar findings. Kids who listen to a
lot of
sexual content when 12-14 years old were twice as likely to have sex
between
the ages of 14-16 as kids who were not exposed to much sexual media.
Their
exposure to sexual content in media, including the music they listen
to, is
forming their expectations that early, relationship-free sex is the
norm. As an
example of this, one public school teacher was troubled by his teenage
students
dressing immorally, and when he expressed this to them, they were
“shocked and
hurt” by this characterization. To them, they were simply
just “dressing in
style.” They were reflecting what they had seen and heard and
accepted.
Parents and concerned adults must be as involved in
this part of young people’s lives as they are with what they
eat, or who they
develop relationships with. Scripture makes very clear that what we
take in our
minds ultimately gets reflected in how we live. Jeremiah asked the
people of
his day, “Thus says the Lord: ‘What wrong did your
fathers find in me that they
went far from me, and went after worthlessness, and became
worthless?’”
(Jeremiah 2:5). The prophet was speaking about idolatry. When they
pursued it
and made it a part of their conscious lives, they became what it
is—worthless.
Paul reminds us we should “take every thought captive to obey
Christ” (2
Corinthians 10:5). We must make sure what we fill our minds with
encourages a
godly lifestyle, not that which promotes sin and sinful living. We must
be
careful to warn our young people about what they allow into their
minds, which
enters their hearts and then is reflected in their everyday living.
“To the pure,
all things are pure, but to the defiled and unbelieving, nothing is
pure; but
both their minds and their consciences are defiled” (Titus
1:15).
This is a warning every adult must heed, as well. What
do we allow into our thoughts, our consciousness, to become part of how
we
think, who we are? Do we spend any time in the Word of God, or do we
allow
television to constantly program us as to our values and belief system?
What
type of music do you listen to, what type of literature do you read,
and what
is its message? Does your life permeate with the spiritual, or is it a
reflection of the world? “Do not be conformed to this world,
but be transformed
by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is
the will
of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect” (Romans
12:2).
