I’m almost certain your parents also said it to you. Did you also say it to your kids (although you may have promised yourself before that you wouldn’t). Your grandparents almost certainly said it to your parents. From Greenday and Oasis to Pearl Jam and the Beastie Boys. From Led Zeppelin and The Rolling Stones to The Beatles and The Beach Boys. From Tom Petty and Neil Young to Paul Anka and Enya. For decades, parents around the world have been telling their kids “that’s not music” and have often found themselves screaming, “Turn off that noise!”
Of course, parents aren’t the only ones who struggle when listening to another generation’s music. On the other hand, most kids would also tell you how dreadful it is to be caught inside the family car while your parents listened to “their music”. “It’s boring.” “It’s mushy.” “It’s not old, it’s just ‘classic’.In the same token that you may have protested years ago, kids today will argue that their parents just don’t “dig” their kind of music.
Striking a compromise between parents and teens regarding conflicting issues can be an explosive proposition. It’s not unusual for disagreements over music to exacerbate rifts in families. Understanding each other’s choice of music and setting respectful boundaries if in case they don’t really like each other’s music can be a uniting factor for families to have a mutual respect for each other. There’s no denying the powerful role music plays in a teen’s life.
Kids have this primal connection with music, that even experts concede that it gives a much needed voice to each and every generation. You would be lying if you say that, back in high school, you and your friends didn’t feel as if your favorite songs then were talking about your own heartaches, joy, frustrations and other real-life experiences. “Music has the ability to communicate the deepest feelings of our hearts; the feelings of our souls, essentially,” says Chris Woods, music teacher at West Ridge Academy. “It can make you happy, or sad, experience heartache and victory, anger, frustration, and yes, even the feeling of peace. Music is truly an important medium which has proven its adeptness in communicating ideas and emotions between its creator and the listener.”Take a close look at what kind of songs your teen is listening to on his or her iPod, and most probably you’ll learn a valuable insight as to what your teen actually values in life.
Do not despair though, hope springs eternal for those parents who may not like the music that their children are raving about. It has been noted that teens are more interested in the music’s rhythm and beats, rather than its lyrics. “Many teenagers nowadays like the rap music and hip hop genre. I believe the reason for this trend can be ascribed to the hip hop and rap music’s distinct rhythmic structure,” says Woods. Further, Woods advises parents to remain patient since musical tastes actually vary over time.
Parents must also be vigilant however, as there are some music which contains negative messages which can be detrimental to the psyche of malleable teens. It is crucial for parents to establish clear and defined boundaries for music, such as staying from songs with violent or sexually charged lyrics, or profanity. Once you have made these guidelines perfectly clear to your teens, they may go ahead and be exposed to different music genres so long as they don’t violate the agreed boundaries. Reaching a compromise and sharing each other’s music can actually teach parents and teens about the art of building bridges and dispute settlement. By allowing their children the freedom to choose their own music while at the same time establishing clear boundaries, parents and teenagers are forging towards a more positive direction.
The students at West Ridge Academy learn from Mr. Woods the value of music and how they can use it to express themselves through various types of music. By the time they finish the course, some students have even recorded their own songs. Giving expression to their feelings can be a life changing experience. “I was taken aback by the number of songs that the kids wrote which touched on spiritual subjects, or reflections on life, ” Woods said amused. “I think the music is their acknowledgement that West Ridge Academy has helped them, and they’ve needed that.
