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Music and the Behavior of Children and Adolescents

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Music has been a part of our lives for centuries and generations to come. Whether it is part of a ritual, an emotional release, religious purposes, or even just for listening pleasures music has been at the center of our society. Over the last decade certain genres in music have become more graphic and explicit in its lyrics. Children and adolescents are being exposed to more violent and sexual content in today's music. Although we use music to express ourselves and tell stories, we often wonder whether what we are saying has an effect on the listening audience. Most of the criticism aimed at current popular music stems from the assumption that may influence may influence how young listeners think and act. During the last decade, genres in music have evolved into having more sexual and violent content. Genres such as, but are not limited to; rap, hip hop, rock, and heavy metal have more graphic songs. These genres in particular focus on topics such as drugs, sexual activity, gangs, gun violence, and other crimes. Children and adolescents are avid music lovers and can generally listen up to almost 40 hours a week of music. Parents often are unaware of what their children are listening to because of the increase of daily downloads and the use of headphones. According to a study published by the American Psychological Association (APA), songs with violent behavior increase aggression relation thoughts and emotions and this effect is directly related to violence in the lyrics (Anderson, Carnagey, Eubanks, 2003). Adolescents' choice of music and their reactions to and interpretations of it vary with age, culture, and ethnicity (Pediatrics, 2009). Teenagers use music to identify with themselves and their music preference provides a means to achieve group identity into the youth culture. Female adolescents are more likely than males to use music to reflect their emotional state, in particular when feeling lonely or down. On the other hand, ma

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