Is there any music that's NOT Ok for kids to listen to? - Page 5

[newbymom05]

Originally Posted by MusicianDad

You know... Some kids music is good music. Some kids music is more violent then most adult music. Have you listened to "The Cat Came Back" recently?

"The man around the corner swore he'd kill the cat on sight,
He loaded up his shotgun with nails and dynamite;
He waited and he waited for the cat to come around,
Ninety seven pieces of the man is all they found."

I doubt I'd let my kids watch a movie with a guy who blows himself up trying to kill a cat.

I screen my kid's music the same way I screen their tv and movies. So no, I haven't heard the song you referenced, nor have my children. So far, Raffi, the Wiggles, Putamayo, Sandra Boynton, etc haven't had any death or violent imagery, or at least the songs we have.

Really, though, Grimm's fairy tales and most nursery rhymes are horribly violent. Rock a Bye Baby has the baby falling out of a tree, for cripe's sake. With contemporary music, I"m more concerned w/ drug and sexual references that aren't appropriate for my preschooler than w/ violent ones, although I'd certainly prefer to steer clear of the more egregious violent ones as well.

Oh, and language--I'm not ready to explain or hear words like ass, bitch, pimp, etc coming from my 2 and 4 y/o's. As my mom likes to say, let's save something for later.

[sunnmama]

Originally Posted by treemom2

Haha, love the comments about drawing the line at Sublime. . .we totally play it in the car. We don't censor music (at least not yet, maybe when my kids are older if they start listening to ultra violent rap that talks about killing people or harming women--then we'll re-evaluate), what we listen to, our children listen to. DD and DS love to sing along in the car and often sings the "curse" words right along with the music. I'm also one of those parents who doesn't censor my language just because my children are in the room. They do know that there are words they don't say around others and have known this for a long time.

I posted about Sublime being my "line" on a recent trip

IMO, some of Sublime is clearly about killing people and harming women/girls. And the language is stark/undisguised. Do you disagree?

[Ruthla]

Originally Posted by Tigerchild

I also don't think that some kids "get" a lot of even pretty overt (to adults) euphanisms.

That's been my experience as well. Before age 10 or 11, my daughters missed most of the innuendo in popular song lyrics, and by the time they were old enough to understand what it meant, they were mature enough to deal with it. I'm sure there are some parents who disagree with my latter point, and would restrict what their young adolescents are exposed to.

I really don't mind a few strong words when they're in context. I can't stand the censored version of Nickleback's "Rockstar"- I honestly do not have a problem with any of my kids hearing "dress my in the latest fashions". Just last night, the kids and I were listening to various songs on YouTube, and we came across some of Nickleback's (newest? oldest?) stuff that we'd never heard before. Some of it had REALLY raunchy lyrics- one of them was about having sex while driving. DD1 and DD2 were sitting there with their jaws dropping and telling me "you CANNOT let DS listen to this!" But DS didn't understand a word of it- he understood the driving part, but all the "not the slightest bit subtle" innuendo was 100% lost on him.

We don't even enjoy that kind of thing, and won't be listening to it on purpose again- but my point is that the 8yo was completely unnaware of how innapropriate that song was.

If I enjoyed listening to songs with more graphic lyrics, I might have to restrict what I listened to in front of the kids. But since I don't, I've never seen any reason to censor my own music in front of them.

[Jessy1019]

Originally Posted by Viola

Heheheh, we listened to The Internet is for Porn driving from PA to VA a few years ago because it was on this mix CD that DH made for the drive. I wanted to FFwd past the song, but the kids wanted to hear it. I kept telling my daughter they were saying the Internet is for CORN because you can buy corn online.

My daughter thought Pat Monahan's "Her Eyes" said, "She thinks all men are addicted to corn," instead of "She thinks all men are addicted to porn."

It was fitting -- my partner is much more into corn than porn most days! But I did explain why I was laughing when I heard her sing it, and now she laughs too.

[Jessy1019]

Originally Posted by newbymom05

I don't understand the attitude of "they listen to what I/we/the adults listen to" or "only GOOD music" which seems to always mean adult music. Do these children also watch the same tv and movies their parents watch, since the dialog and subject matter is over their heads or because the parents just don't like children's shows?

In our house, yes, the kids watch lots of "adult" movies and shows, and they like them (my almost-4 year old loves "the grumpy doctor show" ie: House and they picked The Hangover to rent the other day even though we'd seen it in the theaters too ). They also watch "kid" stuff like Transformer cartoons and Wizards of Waverly Place -- and when we go to the movies, sometimes I pick, sometimes they pick, sometimes their dad picks. But yeah, I like exposing them to all sorts of things and I find most "little kid" shows/music very hard to sit through myself.

[mommy2two babes]

I don't censor music for our kids. We listen to alot of classic rock and my sister who the kids see alot had my DD at 4 singing " where did you get your body? I got it from my mama"

Like others have said I don't think kids get alot of it.
I can remember singing beastie boys fight for your right at a very young age.
It wasn't until I was an adult and heard the song that I realised I was singing " My Mom threw away my best p*rno mag"

[sunnmama]

I remember being 9, and listening to John Mellencamp's "Hurt so Good" on the radio with my sister (11). She was emphatically explaining that I could not let my mom hear me sing that song, and I couldn't figure out why, lol.

[MusicianDad]

Originally Posted by newbymom05

I screen my kid's music the same way I screen their tv and movies. So no, I haven't heard the song you referenced, nor have my children. So far, Raffi, the Wiggles, Putamayo, Sandra Boynton, etc haven't had any death or violent imagery, or at least the songs we have.

Really, though, Grimm's fairy tales and most nursery rhymes are horribly violent. Rock a Bye Baby has the baby falling out of a tree, for cripe's sake. With contemporary music, I"m more concerned w/ drug and sexual references that aren't appropriate for my preschooler than w/ violent ones, although I'd certainly prefer to steer clear of the more egregious violent ones as well.

Oh, and language--I'm not ready to explain or hear words like ass, bitch, pimp, etc coming from my 2 and 4 y/o's. As my mom likes to say, let's save something for later.

Movies, TV, books, or music I have never understood the bolded to be honest. Violence (though not too violent) is ok, but sex isn't...

We are more likely to censor violence the sex in our house though.

[kcstar]

Originally Posted by MusicianDad

Movies, TV, books, or music I have never understood the bolded to be honest. Violence (though not too violent) is ok, but sex isn't...

We are more likely to censor violence the sex in our house though.

It varies for us. We'll play music we like, so DH has country on in the car.

We burned copies of our children's music so that DS could change CDs and play the music he likes without damaging the originals. He does like Barney, alas, but he also likes Free to be You and Me, much of Bob from Sesame Street, the Baby Signing Time music, and others.

[betsyj]

Music has a huge influence on all of us and social mores are constantly changing about what is acceptable and what is not. It is interesting to read a review about Elvis when he appeared on the Ed Sullivan show:

Elvis Presley had 'injected movements of his tongue and indulged in wordless singing that were singularly distasteful.' Overstimulating the physical impulses of the teenagers was 'a gross national disservice.'"

Back in the day Elvis was unacceptable to many many parents and if anything it only enhanced his popularity. I think this is true of most kids and this is why I will let my son listen to music that has adult themes and ideas.

Music is such a powerful medium I want my son's first exposure to be with me, because he will be exposed regardless of any attempts to censure. When he does "get it" we can talk about the message and the meaning.

[water]

I just won't listen to crap. So that rules out most kids music right there!

I listen to almost all my music with the kids around. The only thing I censor is the hard-core gangster rap and some of the death metal.

My 5yo loves to shock people and I don't want her to hear the n-word yet, because she doesn't have the maturity to understand why we don't say it and why it hurts people, so we will leave that conversation for later.

The death metal I love and think is funny, but my husband asked me not to play it in front of them, so, ok.

[Kelly1101]

Originally Posted by mamazee

If I'd be embarassed if she sang the lyrics in front of someone, that's probably a good indication that she shouldn't be hearing them.

Sounds like the best idea...

[AllisonR]

Originally Posted by betsyj

Back in the day Elvis was unacceptable to many many parents and if anything it only enhanced his popularity. I think this is true of most kids and this is why I will let my son listen to music that has adult themes and ideas.

Music is such a powerful medium I want my son's first exposure to be with me, because he will be exposed regardless of any attempts to censure. When he does "get it" we can talk about the message and the meaning.

ITA! I'd rather my kids be exposed to music, bad language, a glass of wine, insert indulgence here.... around me. I want it all open for discussion - including THEIR discussion and THEIR views. If they don't get it here, they WILL get it somewhere else. When I am not around, then someone else gets to decide what it all means.

This doesn't mean I have to listen to rap 24/7 or swear like a sailer or get drunk every evening, but in the normal course of life these things should come up. Some of these life experiences will come up, hopefully when I am around, though I am sure many will also be at other times. I think having everything more open will only encourage them to get ideas from me, even if they disagree, then me hiding life from them and them sneaking off to discover it elsewhere.

[DevaMajka]

For me, anything that promotes hate (racist, sexist, etc) is off limits. Also, songs that are overly sexual or promote the idea of women as sex objects.
Other than that, I can't think of anything that's not ok for ds. Dp teaches guitar, and ds learns a lot of the songs that he teaches. He teaches all kinds of stuff. I thought it was really funny when ds started singing a line out of "White Wedding" lol.

oh yeah- and songs that are all about violence. Those are not ok.

[tbone_kneegrabber]

Originally Posted by MusicianDad

Movies, TV, books, or music I have never understood the bolded to be honest. Violence (though not too violent) is ok, but sex isn't...

We are more likely to censor violence the sex in our house though.

Yeah I don't get that either. I used to work in a video store when I was in High School and parents would always ask why something was rated PG-13 or R and if it was for violence, they were like "oh that's okay" but if it was for sex they wouldn't rent it.

I dunno about other people, but I assume by kid will grow up and have sex one day (I hope he does), however I also hope he NEVER blows up a car or shoots someone etc! So I would way rather he be exposed to consensual sex references than violent references!

[One_Girl]

I tend to censure music that doesn't emulate the values we have as a family. We don't listen to music with violence, sex, alcohol, drugs, or religion in it in our house. We also avoid movies with those themes. When my dd is older and can verbalize why listening to that kind of music or watching those types of movies is important to her than I may reconsider. I just don't see any value in those types of music and am not going to introduce her to music that encourages bad values.

Dd has a seven year old friend who listens to the sex music and emulates the singer. We stopped inviting her over after she wanted to play whore babies with my dd she also told me what a whore does. I don't think that songs and movies go over kids heads as often as we want them to.

[folkgirl]

Originally Posted by water

I just won't listen to crap. So that rules out most kids music right there!

There really is some decent kids' music out there if you look for it. It's not the only thing my child listens to by far, but I have managed to find enough "good stuff" that when I do listen it's not unpleasant for me.

[water]

Originally Posted by folkgirl

There really is some decent kids' music out there if you look for it. It's not the only thing my child listens to by far, but I have managed to find enough "good stuff" that when I do listen it's not unpleasant for me.

Some of the Putamayo CDs are ok, and I've found exactly one other CD I was willing to listen to, but we have played it way too many times now...

I dislike the dumbed-down music that is out there for kids. My kids both have had favorite classical pieces since they were 2 or 3, and they listen to a huge range of rock, hip-hop, rap, metal, classical, pop and more, so I don't really see the need to buy or play music that has no intrinsic musical value, but is somehow considered kid music.

[loraxc]

I avoid clearly audible profanity (I don't worry about inaudible-ish things) and references to killing people. A song has to be extremely sexual before I skip it with the kids around, but I can think of a few on my iPod that I skip (uh, "Gett Off" by Prince springs to mind).

I suppose I might skip a song with positive references to hard drugs. My oldest kid is only 6, too, so this may change a little as she grows older...I don't think she even has ever heard the word cocaine.

Interestingly, my DD's school recently did a performance featuring "White Rabbit" by Jefferson Airplane, which of course has drug references.

ETA that I am much stricter about screen media. DD has seen very few movies, period, and has never watched movies or TV intended for adults. I just think visuals add a whole other level of intensity. I also really hate the wiseass attitudes modeled on TV and movies--and I am talking about kids' shows here.

[zoebugsmom]

I draw the line at a lot of swearing, violence and sex. I had to take an Ani Difranco cd away from DD not too long ago after hearing "my c&*^ looks like a wound that won't heal." Yeah, don't need her repeating those lyrics in school.

Originally Posted by newbymom05

I don't understand the attitude of "they listen to what I/we/the adults listen to" or "only GOOD music" which seems to always mean adult music. Do these children also watch the same tv and movies their parents watch, since the dialog and subject matter is over their heads or because the parents just don't like children's shows?

My kids listen to kids music but if it's where I can hear it- the living room, kitchen, car etc- it has to be kids music that's decent. TMBG, Sandra Boynton, etc. If they want to listen to Wee Sing or something they can do it where I don't have to hear it.

Fortunately they tend to prefer classic rock and other older, adult stuff. DS digs the Beatles & Beastie Boys while DD likes Bob Dylan. Queen & Bob Marley are pretty high on their lists, too.