Music's Effect on Violence

2037 Words5 Pages

Music's Effect on Violence

Music is an essential part of life in America today. Millions of Americans listen to recordings from a plethora of artists every day. Since the advent of Rock N' Roll, politicians, law enforcement, and several independent organizations have tried to convince America that music causes negative social impacts on youth. Of the social impacts that music is blamed for, violence is the most shocking. The assumption by the afore mentioned groups, that music causes violence in American youth, is very debatable. I firmly believe that music doesn't at all cause violence. I on the other hand, argue that music reinforces certain feelings and incites emotion in the listener as it is intended to do. Music can't be blamed for acts of violence, because it isn't music or the music industry that shoots up a school. It is the children who are committing acts of violence. Music is meant to incite emotion and convey meaning not to cause violence.

Teenage Violence is a problem that plagues America?s children. Suicide and School Shootings are two of the most visible and horrid forms of violence displayed by American children. Many parents have been quick to blame this violence on the music that violent children listen to. Although these songs may depict violent situations and feelings, the artists who are blamed for the violence intend the songs to incite an emotion in their listener, not violence. There are several cases in which a parent has sued a record company over an act of violence committed by they?re children. An example of this is the court case McCollum v. CBS, Inc. (1988) which was brought by the parents of John McCollum, who it was alleged, listened repeatedly to two Osborne albums, Blizzard of Oz and Di...

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...or others.

Works Cited:

Lalonde, Mike. 1997. The complete Ozzy Osbourne biography.

Neely, Kim. Five Against One : The Pearl Jam Story Penguin USA: May 1998

Miller, Bobbi ?Richardson Teen-Ager Kills Himself in Front of Classmates?

http://www.its.caltech.edu/~letona/pearljam/lyrics/noframes/jeremyarticle.html

McCollum v. CBS, Inc.249 Cal. Reporter 187 (1988).

Shevory, Tohmas. ?Law, Political Economy, and the Suppression of Popular Music?

10 September 2001

http://www.ithaca.edu/faculty/shevory/vita/censor.htm

Staff. ?Woodstock goes down in flames. Tractor-trailers burn; medics flee blazes? Herald Journal26 July 1999

http://www.syracuse.com/entertainment/stories/19990726_rpmwrap.html

Talerman, Jason. 1994. The death of Tupac: Will Gangsta rap kill?

Vedder, Eddie 1991. Radio Interview with KLOL FM. Echoes of Exposure with David Sadoff

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