I saw this statement on the internet as I was researching the theme for today’s blog post - parents monitoring their children’s music - and thought it was an interesting perspective to write about to address this topic. Proverbs 22:6 states that we parents are to, “train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.”
The subject about offensive music came up recently after a close friend of mine attended an exercise class at a sports facility in a large urban area. Music videos were shown as part of the exercise experience. My friend told me that the young instructor bragged about how her mother often attended her classes. Unfortunately, my friend did not have a good experience - she was not only shocked by the extremely vulgar words in the songs, but also the dance moves in the videos. Repeated curse words as well as sexually explicit language and dance moves were a part of almost every song. As it turned out, the instructor’s mother did not attend class that day. My friend commented that she believed the instructor’s mother would have been highly offended and embarrassed by the music had she been there. She also questioned whether the instructor would have played these music videos with her mother there and sighed in relief that no men attended the class that day because she said she, as a woman, would have been embarrassed.
There can be no dispute that much of the musical lyrics today is filled with vulgar and sexually explicit language- especially in certain genres. What should Christian parents do? Parents must be vigilant, as they play a very important role in deciding what music their children listen to when at home. I’m a firm believer that when children are in your home, they should abide by your rules. Of course, teenagers especially will complain about peer pressure and fitting in with their friends. But, you must set parameters and train up your child as you feel is right and godly.
I don’t believe that any parent would even consider allowing his child to have in the home any literature or videos promoting racism, pornography, or violence against women, for example. So why would a Christian parent allow his child to have music that is laced with vulgarity and sexual explicitness? Plain and simple – that type of music should not be accepted.
Talk with your children and explain why you are setting boundaries. And, importantly, ask them whether they would play that type of music if you were sitting in the car with them or talking with them in their bedroom? If they believe that a song would be offensive to you as a parent, then it should be offensive to them too!