Rebecca Whalen March 10, 2012 English 1102-066 Is Music to Blame for Youth Violence? Bar-on, M.

Impact of Music Lyrics and Music Videos on Children and Youth. AAP Policy. American Academy of Pediatrics, 2009. Web. 26 Feb 2012. The article, Impact of Music Lyrics and Music videos on Children and Youth, is helpful to my topic because I am researching if the music industry is really to blame for violence in todays youth. In order to find out why people blame the music industry, it is needed to know what the effects are that music can have on people. This article explains about a survey conducted by the American Academy of Pediatrics. The survey asks children and teenagers how much, and what type of music they listen to the most and how often they have violent thoughts or feelings. The article makes it clear that there is no definite link between music, lyrics and children being violent. This is a credible source because it is written by the American Academy of Pediatrics, a health center dedicated to helping childrens health. The AAP is an organization, and they present both sides of the argument. They talk about how music and violence can be linked, but there is no definite way to know. This website references a number of sources at the bottom of the page, and has a revision to their own article, making it longer by including more studies. This was useful to my research because I learned that music can have an effect on emotions, but there is no definitive study as to if there is really a connection between violent lyrics and children being violent.

Williams, Jennifer. Does Todays Music have a Negative Influence on Our Youth. North Carolina State University. N.p., 16 Oct 2006. Web. 26 Feb 2012 This article is helpful in my research to answer the question is music to blame for youth violence? because it looks at specific music lyrics and what they really mean compared to what people think. The author takes lyrics from Lil Wayne, Eminem, The Killers, Fall Out Boy, and a few other artists. When the author looks at the lyrics, it is from an objective point of view. This article is credible because it was a project done by a student at North Carolina State University. Jennifer Williams is working on her Masters degree in Social Work. The author keeps objective by stating from the beginning that she picked different genres of music to keep the study fair. She picked random lyrics from each artist and talked about both the positive and negative meanings it could have. North Carolina State University is an accredited school by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. This is a good source to use because it keeps an objective mind, and all the sources are cited at the bottom of the article.

Murray, Thomas R. Music, Religious Music, and Morally Offensive Lyrics What Schools Ban and Why. Westport, Conn: Praeger, 2008 137-144. Print. This book, What Schools Ban and Why is helpful to my inquiry question because it has a specific chapter talking about music. The chapter talks about how music can be morally offensive, even religious music. Many schools, such as Mountain View High School have banned the use of iPods for violent lyrics, offensive language, and the possibility of cheating. The chapter also talks about what schools can do instead of banning the use of music. Schools could not allow them to be out during school hours, for instance. The author is credible because Thomas Murray has a Ph.D. from Stanford University and is now a professor at the University of California in Santa Barbra. He has taught here for over thirty years, teaching Psychology. He has written four other books on culture and human development. It is easy to find him on the internet, and he has his own page on Sage, a website dedicated to journals, books, and credited authors such as Thomas Murray. This is relevant to my question because it is good to know why schools ban certain materials, and what their stand is on the question is music to blame for youth violence?

Roberts, D. F.. Chapter 8 The Effects of Violent Music on Children and Adolescents. Effects of Violent Music on Children and Adolescents. N.p., 2003. Web. 10 Mar 2012 This chapter, The Effects of Violent Music on Children and Adolescents helps me answer my inquiry question because it specifically talks about the effects music can have on todays youth. The chapter has many studies such as, what children would bring to a desert island, and the amount of music teenagers listen to daily. These show how much music is in a teenagers life. The article also states that there is no definite link between violence in children and music. The author is a credible source because you can find out a lot of information about him, and his other works. Donald Roberts has three degrees from Columbia, Berkley, and Stanford, his most recent degree being a Ph.D. from Stanford. He now teaches courses on communication theory and children, youth, and media. The chapter is also credible because it has personal studies, as well as other works in the chapter. At the end, and in the text, the sources are cited. It also stays objective by stating that the studies were done at random.

Samantha-King, J.. Effect of Rap and Heavy Metal Music Lyrics on Adolescent Behaviors Clearinghouse Missouri Western. Missouri Western State University 2002. Web. 10 Mar 2012.

Although this source is ten years old, it is very helpful to my research because it looks at two genres of music, and observes the effects they have on children. It also shows that thinking was the same ten years ago as now. Back then, people thought that music was to blame for youth violence and that is how a lot of people think today. It looks for suicidal thoughts, aggression, and stereotypes. The article says there is only a correlation between violence and music, and not causation. This means that there is some results from listening to violent music, but there is no way to tell if music caused aggression or if it was just from being a teenager. The author of this article currently works for the Psychology department at Westchester University, an accredited university. The study was done randomly, without a bias towards gender, race, or sexual orientation. The article itself is credible because it has a lot of different components of the study, like the abstract, study, sources, and an appendix. The sources are clearly cited at the end of the article.