Mind over matter

               The youth of Today is all over the place. What is it that makes them the way they are? Is it peer pressure, the environment, how they were brought up, outside influences such as music, movies, or videogames? What is it that causes negative influences to take control of the youth of today, actually it isn’t even about the youth of today, it is actually about the youth in general. There has always been an issue about how the youth is our future, and how we need to influence them to do well. Always trying to keep them from things that would make them do bad things by keeping them from the bad girl and/or boy, making sure they don’t watch too much TV, listening to bad music or sometimes “adult” music, which some people like to call it. When you look into it, where does it all begin, what I really mean is, what is the main reason the youth either become easily influential or not? It all leads to the parents. Depending on how the child is raised, will depend on how they will become. Yes, the environment has a big impact though, but none compared to the parents.

                The reason I bring all of this up is for the reason that, when it comes to influences and how much they will affect the youth, it goes back to them. Music has always been big thing to the youth. It serves as inspiration, a mood setter, to bring people back to earth (metaphorically of course), express how one feels, then for some they are words to live by. It is there that people ask if music is a bad influence. Unfortunately, music really can be, especially now. Music today has greatly taken a step towards the “Dark Side.” No I’m not saying that there are Jedi and Sith running around using the force, but that Music is soliciting sex, drugs, violence such as fights, killing, and abuse.  Music of all genres do this, some more than others. Rap music for example talks about sex, and drugs as if there was nothing else to talk about. Country is another extreme believe it or not. I don’t really remember where I ad read this, or heard it, but there was a study that showed country was the music most responsible out of all the genres of music responsible or influential to suicides. I was actually shocked by this till I more closely listened to some country music. A lot of the music is extremely depressing and sad, and easily relatable. There are some major extremes that music is able to do with simple words, and sound. For people to go to such extremes have to already been in some kind of state prior to listening to music. Is it due how they experienced there life? Could it have been that they didn’t know how to deal or cope with their issues? There are many reasons to why people allow things to influence them , whether they are conscious how it or not.

                So what is that influences the youth? Is it the upbringing, outside sources such as music, or is it actually life experiences? I would say a mixture of all of them. I still hold that it is due to how they were brought up. For example, if you are a rich kid who knows nothing of the real world, which was spoiled by parents who just gave them whatever they wanted not caring about the child themself. Their experience or outlook of the world would be different than one who came from the projects who never had anything good. Children from there come out two ways, there are those who fight to get out and make something of themselves, or stay make a menace of things. I went a little off topic. Sorry for that, but my point is that music isn’t the reason for bad influence, it is how things were prior to the music. How people take it isn’t the music’s fault but how they were prior to it. Depending on that will determine the extent of how music will influence the youth, whether it be bad or good.