Heavy Metal Bad For The Teenage Mind Essay Example For Students

Heavy Metal Bad For The Teenage Mind Essay Evil and Satanic, is what you would probably call heavy metal music today. MarilynManson, Anthrax, Metallica and Cannibal Corpse are a few of the many heavy metal groups of todays music world. Heavy metal contains music that should be more carefully analyzed by parents.It also affects the way teens think. Also this music can imply outward violence toward others. Heavy metal is a partial cause for teen violence and suicide. Numbing and influencial, teen violence and suicide can start with heavy metal music, I failed to recognize my son was holding a hand grenade and it was live and it was going off in his mind., is what Raymond Kuntz said after his 15-year-old son Richard had shown him a CD byMarilyn Manson and later killed himself after listening to his music. Dr. Frank Palumbo from the American Academy of Pediatrics said:Make no mistake about it, music can summon a rangeof emotions, most of which are wonderful. Yet there issome music that communicates potentially harmful healthmessages, especially when it reaches a vulnerable audience.(Palumbo)The AAP (American Academy of Pediatrics) believes parents should better research the music their teens listen to more carefully and that the music industries should make more positive video themes. The more the parents research and monitor their teens music, the less they have to worry about fatal reactions toward it and other violence that would come from the m usic of their teens. Almost every parent in America would do what you did. It didnt look like a handgrenade. It looked like a CD. said Joseph Liberman who was trying to comfort Mr. Kuntz (Kenen). If we research what teens listen to we could prevent violence and suicide from happening. Thus, from a testimony from the American Academy of Pediatrics there are many statements that imply that heavy metal music is partially to blame for suicide and violence by teens because of its dangerous lyrics. One part of this testimony states:To date , no studies have documented a cause-and-effect relationship between sexually explicitor violent lyrics and adverse behavioral effects,i.e., Ill listen to a song about killing someone and therefore I go out andkill. But we can all acknowledge the overall effect music has on people,including adolescents and children. Otherwise , we wouldnt listen to it and teenagers become absorbed in songs they believe help better definethem during this rocky transition into adulthood.(Palumbo)If teens are exposed to music daily the more they accept the devastating implications in the music as if it was their lunch or daily schooling. The only way to stop teens from listening would be to totally get rid of the heavy metal genre itself or stop the use of the violent and suicide implicating lyrics in the music. Teens are vulnerable to many things especially music. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, they conducted a study which found that teens on average listen to 40 hours of music per week(Palumbo). That is 7 and one half hours more than an average school week. It sounds like teens are getting more from music than they are from their teachers they see 5 out of 7 days per week. This music can affect their school life and affect the way they think and act while in and around school. Heavy metal can lead to violence and suicide in teens from listening to the music they do. One study done by David Merrell from Suffolk,Virginia, somewhat proves heavy metal is bad for teens. However, his study was done on 72 male laboratory mice. He used 3 groups of 24 mice, a control group with no music, a heavy metal group that listened to Anthrax, and a classical group that listened to Mozart. Each group had 12 hours of light each day while they were running the maze with no music and each group had an average time of 10 minutes(Eaton). But after listening to their groups music for 10 hours each day and running the maze 3 times per week, each group came up with a different average after one month of the maze. The control group ran the maze in 5 minutes.The Mozart group ran the maze in 1 minute and 30 seconds and the Anthrax group ran the maze at an average of 30 minutes(Eaton). Then, at the end of Davids experiment, the Anthrax group all killed each other. If heavy metal can have this effect on mice just think of what this music might do to a teenager in todays world with all the violence in the school and normal community that they see every day. One thing that might point out the effects of this type of music may be the teens grades dropping and the teen not caring at all about it, or maybe theygo to school and all they do is skip class. The violence they may take forth could be very dangerous and harmful not toward others but also toward themselves. Not only something like physical damage toward them but also mental damage that may never heal. This damage is a possible reason to retaliate against others not just in the community but also in the school, like Kip Kinkle in Oregon or the teens in the Columbine High School shootings in Colorado or possibly toward their immediate family they live with or their further relatives. You could relate this to the mouse experiment that David Merrell did as all of the heavy metal mice killed each other which portrays the outward violence toward others in school and in the community(Eaton). Also Raymond Kuntzs son Richard was writing a school term paper on Marilyn Manson when he committed suicide(Kenen). Coincidence? Probably not. If mice can be influenced by something they can not comprehend something is up. There has to be something like mind numbing radio waves or tones in some kind of a sequnce to mentally dismantle some one from the inside-out. Also, if a term paper and a little music can kill you, stopping this assisted-suicidal music at its source does not sound bad at all. Heavy metal influences outward violence towards others in many ways. Emily dickinson 2 EssayIn closing, music is a big part of the human experience and there is no possible way to avoid it. So while your taking the journey of life be careful of what music you stop and listen to because it can make your journey smooth or it can make it a rough one not just for you but the people around you and the people who care about you. So remember, read the label, take care of your mind, its the only one you have. Treat each other with kindness and respect because you dont know if it could come back and haunt you some day. BibliographyWorks CitedCannibal Corpse. The Bleeding. 1994 Metal Blade Records Inc. 2345 Erringer Rd., Suite 108 Simi Valley CaliforniaCannibal Corpse Gallery of Suicide. 1998 Metal Blade Records Inc. 2828 Cochran St. Suite 302 Simi Valley CaliforniaEaton, Lorraine. Teen Proves Hard Rocks Bad for You. 3 Aug. 1997Online. Available. http://newsherald.com/education/rock86.htm15 Dec. 1999. Kenen, Joanne. Senate Panel Tunes into Music Violence. 8 Nov. 1997Online. Available. http://www.cnn.com/ 15 Dec. 1999. Palumbo, Frank. Social Impact of Music Violence. 6 Nov. 1997Online. Available. http://www.aap.org/advocacy/washing/t1106.htm15 Dec. 1999Rosen, Hilary. Recording Industry Responds to Attack on Lyrics. 10 Dec. 1996. Online. Available. http://www.riaa.com/censorship/pressrelease.htm 15 Dec. 1999. Works CitedCannibal Corpse. The Bleeding. 1994 Metal Blade Records Inc. 2345 Erringer Rd., Suite 108 Simi Valley CaliforniaCannibal Corpse Gallery of Suicide. 1998 Metal Blade Records Inc. 2828 Cochran St. Suite 302 Simi Valley CaliforniaEaton, Lorraine. Teen Proves Hard Rocks Bad for You. 3 Aug. 1997Online. Available. http://newsherald.com/education/rock86.htm15 Dec. 1999. Kenen, Joanne. Senate Panel Tunes into Music Violence. 8 Nov. 1997Online. Available. http://www.cnn.com/ 15 Dec. 1999. Palumbo, Frank. Social Impact of Music Violence. 6 Nov. 1997Online. Available. http://www.aap.org/advocacy/washing/t1106.htm15 Dec. 1999Rosen, Hilary. Recording Industry Responds to Attack on Lyrics. 10 Dec. 1996. Online. Available. http://www.riaa.com/censorship/pressrelease.htm 15 Dec. 1999. Music