Parents Advised to Heed Study on Sex-Driven Music Lyrics

by Mary Rettig and Jody Brown
August 8, 2006

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(AgapePress) - - Family advocates are reacting to a report released earlier this week that links sexually charged lyrics to early sexual activity in teenagers.

The report, published in the August 2006 issue of Pediatrics, says that music with sexually degrading lyrics encourages teens to start having sex at earlier ages, regardless of race or economic status. Bob Waliszewski, a media specialist for Focus on the Family, says the study's findings are no surprise.

"It's amazing to me how, even though it's so obvious, how the world doesn't see it as obvious -- the idea that if teens listen to more sexually suggestive music, that they will act out on what they've been hearing," says Waliszewski. "It is a 'duh!' But it's still very important that people pay attention at this time."

According to the Rand Corporation study, "Lyrics classified as degrading depicted sexually insatiable men pursuing women valued only as sex objects." Such lyrics, found most prominently in rap music, "distorted notions about gender roles in both male and female teenagers," states the report.

Even though the study is not "rocket science," Waliszewski says it is one that must be heeded -- particularly by parents.

"Parents feel like there's a lot of battles out there to fight," he notes. "And when it comes to entertainment, [parents might often say] 'I'm sure they'll get through it; I got through it when I was a kid. I'm sure my kid will somehow make it through as well.'"

But it is a different world now, the media specialist points out. "It's a very, very hormonally charged world when it comes to entertainment," he says, "and parents just can't let their young person just kind of navigate this world by themselves." His suggestion? Parents should take a pro-active role in finding out not just teens' favorite music, but also their favorite movies -- because what is popular at the box office, he says, is also a major influence on what music is popular with teens.

Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, says the Rand study implicates many in the music industry. "Debauching the young is big business," he says in the August 7 edition of his daily Washington Update. "Those who profit from this traffic buy entry to the halls of power [and then] use their access to silence criticism."

Perkins calls the study "hard evidence from a non-political source" that the messages youth receive about sexual abstinence and indulgences make a difference. "Sexually active youth regret that impact," the FRC leader says. "It's time the music industry did as well."

So what is the moral of the story? Steve Isaac of Plugged-In Magazine puts it this way in an interview with Family News In Focus: "Everybody pretty much understands ... deep down in their hearts, that the things that we put in our minds, the things that we think about, those are the things that affect the way we act."