The Link btwn. SEX and MUSIC

By now you've likely run across the findings of this study in the news in one form or another (here are two articles in case you are interested in pursuing this: here and here). The second article in Canadian press seems to follow the good discussion held on CBC's Q this morning (download today's podcast here). Many news agencies and eventually youth ministries will salivate at the juicy ammunition the findings of this study seem to supply to advance the typically fearful approach to popular culture that so much of Christian discourse seems to be preoccupied with. This is unfortunate…

First as is pointed out in the articles and painstakingly underlined in the CBC interview, the study does not identify a causal link between music and sexual activity (and coincidently STD's). Instead the study shows a correlation between the two factors. This will no doubt be an all too convenient fact for people to forget. The study cannot prove that if teens listen to sexually degrading lyrics they will be more sexually active. It can prove that teens that are sexually active are listening to more music that is sexually degrading. Put that way the conclusions of this study seem redundantly obvious.

Second this study underscores for me the importance of active engagement with popular culture in parenting strategies. For children and adolescents to navigate the murky waters of sexuality successfully means that parents need to see popular music as a way to engage discussion about sexuality. Avoidance tactics, feigning ignorance, or retreatist strategies ultimately leave children/adolescents alone to negotiate their behaviour. This is a clear call to engage in the music that your kids are choosing to listen to and are exposed to involuntarily. Here's a suggestion: Try to de-stigmatize sexually inappropriate music by playing it in your children's presence. Talk to your kids as un-euphemistically as possible about sexuality. Don't allow inappropriate music to become a subversive activity that your kids can engage in as a way to escape or deny your authority. Keep it out in the open. Evaluate the music openly with your kids. Think about it this way: it is likely far better for your children to hear you talk about and mention sexually degrading and inappropriate material (even swears) than it is for them to have their formative exposure occur outside of your guiding hand…

…just a few old youth pastory thoughts coming out…