Last week I was at a friend’s house. While we chatted in the kitchen, a visitor in the living room was playing music that ranged from crude and explicit to suggestive and inappropriate for the setting. I felt uncomfortable for two reasons: most of the songs were sexually explicit, and my children and my friend’s child were running around, catching glimpses of the videos.
Eventually I could no longer ignore it and asked the visitor, “Is that music appropriate for children?” I tried to avoid sounding accusatory. He replied that the kids weren’t really paying attention to the videos, which featured scantily clad women. I was angry, but since I wasn’t in my own home I couldn’t insist he stop. I called my children into the kitchen to get them away from the room.
I love good music. But why are so many popular songs saturated with sexualized images and crude lyrics? Why are hit songs often built around themes that glorify sexual immorality or encourage reckless behavior? It’s alarming to see grown adults play videos that display women in revealing outfits and provocative poses in the presence of children.
How can people sing, dance, and applaud songs that are unapologetically explicit and demeaning? What kind of example does that set for the next generation? When children watch and begin to imitate what they see, it’s predictable—and then adults complain about the behavior they helped normalize. Children mimic the world around them.
If we want to raise kinder, more respectful kids and build a healthier culture, we should be more careful about the media we play—especially around young ears and eyes. It doesn’t matter how catchy the beat is. If a song doesn’t inspire you to do the right thing, or you wouldn’t want to play it with your moral guide beside you, it’s worth reconsidering.
That said, I still enjoy music. I simply choose not to listen to or watch content I wouldn’t be comfortable having played if my faith—or the people I respect most—were sitting beside me. Music can uplift and unite; when it instead degrades or sexualizes, it undermines the values I want to model for my children.
