Today music is a necessity in many peoples lives. People listen to music all the time, from
students who listen to it while studying, to adults driving to work, and those who listen to
music to plainly enjoy life. Personally, I am listening to iTunes on random while writing
this. My point is everyday, almost everyone will encounter music weather intentionally or
voluntarily it surrounds us.
Music is used in many different ways; one people use it as an outlet of expression, another
is a way to let their feelings out, and lastly people use music to identify with who they are.
Nowadays, music has a major impact on teens lives everywhere. Teens begin using music
as ways of asserting their individuality and by breaking away from their parents and
becoming more independent. Christenson (1994) feels that teens interest in popular music
is showing their departure of their parents dependence and a new faithfulness in
friendships among each other. With teens new need for music poses the question of how
does popular music affect their well-beings. But does music diminish their conscience and
cause them to involve themselves on senseless acts of violence and debauchery or is it
something for them to relate to.
Looking at children and their development, if pre-teens and children as young as first
grade have shown interests in popular music (Christenson et al.). In thisresearch, of first to
sixth graders the interest grew as their age did, as they got closer to adolescents their
interest grew. Baker (2001) did research on pre-teen girls and their attraction to popular
music. She found that even though it seems that young girls are fascinated with the boy
bands and normal top 40 songs, some of them are still interested in listening to songs with
explicit lyrics. Even in children music poses as a building block in their mental
development, as they reach adolescents it begins to form media exposure and identities.
Although most of popular music is considered violent and sexual it is still a major part of
teenage development. Demo (1981) connects teenagers expose to popular music as an
outlet to the media. While listening to music is also a major part of the way they live.
Teens listen to music while, doing homework, cleaning and driving. Teens also use music
as therapy, “to relieve my tension or take my mind of things bothering me.” (Demo et al.)
