11th August 2005, 11:58 PM
Yeah, most nations don't, but the thing is, we allow freedom of speech. To that end, we can only really stop freedom of speech when it infringes on someone else's rights.
Is current rap music (the rap we are talking about of course) violent and sending a horrific message? Yeah, and I'd certainly never listen to it. However, I'm pretty sure banning it isn't the right way to go about it either. That opens up the potential for something a lot worse. The best way to go is still to basically parent one's children correctly. That means that if you don't want them listening to music, take away their radios. I've heard "but they'll get ahold of it anyway" too long. Sure sometimes there won't be anything you can do to prevent it, but not most of the time, and if you just cave in because there's no way to make sure it doens't happen 100% of the time, well sorry that's not going to cut it. And also, if you teach your kids a good message, some slipped content you wouldn't normally approve of will be filtered just so. That said, kids can just rebel, and at that point it's trickier...
Anyway, the music is sending a horrific message, but in the end banning it or prohibiting it isn't the way to go.
Besides, I think we have bigger problems to deal with. Kids seem to be doing alright despite everyone prying into their lives with a microscope these days (or maybe because of it, I dunno...), and despite the number of parents that seem too concerned with censorship (and admittedly, we only hear about the irrational ones, good parents still exist, and most likely in the majority). So, why not focus on some problems with numbers to back them up, like for example, those who can't seem to get a job.
(Though, when you see one guy selling flowers just to get by, and another guy just asking for money outright just to get by right next to the first guy, well you want to smack the latter guy...)
Is current rap music (the rap we are talking about of course) violent and sending a horrific message? Yeah, and I'd certainly never listen to it. However, I'm pretty sure banning it isn't the right way to go about it either. That opens up the potential for something a lot worse. The best way to go is still to basically parent one's children correctly. That means that if you don't want them listening to music, take away their radios. I've heard "but they'll get ahold of it anyway" too long. Sure sometimes there won't be anything you can do to prevent it, but not most of the time, and if you just cave in because there's no way to make sure it doens't happen 100% of the time, well sorry that's not going to cut it. And also, if you teach your kids a good message, some slipped content you wouldn't normally approve of will be filtered just so. That said, kids can just rebel, and at that point it's trickier...
Anyway, the music is sending a horrific message, but in the end banning it or prohibiting it isn't the way to go.
Besides, I think we have bigger problems to deal with. Kids seem to be doing alright despite everyone prying into their lives with a microscope these days (or maybe because of it, I dunno...), and despite the number of parents that seem too concerned with censorship (and admittedly, we only hear about the irrational ones, good parents still exist, and most likely in the majority). So, why not focus on some problems with numbers to back them up, like for example, those who can't seem to get a job.
(Though, when you see one guy selling flowers just to get by, and another guy just asking for money outright just to get by right next to the first guy, well you want to smack the latter guy...)
"On two occasions, I have been asked [by members of Parliament], 'Pray, Mr. Babbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures, will the right answers come out?' I am not able to rightly apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question." ~ Charles Babbage (1791-1871)