Why My Kids Can't Listen to Secular Music

I hear people say all the time that they are more concerned with the beat of a song than the lyrics. While I can agree to some extent, I can't compromise on lyrics just to hear a great beat or good music. It is the lyrics of a song that get into the spirit of a man. I believe in words. Words are catchy. They are powerful. And being in the advertising/marketing world I understand just what words can do when repeated. Psychology has taught us that repetition causes familiarity and familiarity "breeds liking". When something is constantly repeated- through audio or visual means, it becomes familiar to the recipient. That familiarity produces a liking. This leads to what they call the "illusion of truth". I don't mean to give you a psychology lesson, but it gives you an understanding of where I am coming from. 

On the flip side, I understand that as a Christian it is highly important that I listen and rehearse good things. I can just hear that little Sunday school song, "oh be careful little ears what you hear...for the father up above he is looking down in love so be careful little ears what you hear." 

When children go around singing songs like The Weekend's "Can't Feel My Face"- a song about drugs- something is wrong. Demi Lovato's "Cool for the Summer" says, "got my mind on your body and your body on my mind. Got a taste for the cherry I just need to take a bite." These are NOT the kind of songs that I want my children repeating over and over again. And the song is just one thing. Children get curious and want to see the music video. And 9 times out of 10 the video is naked women and men and some sort of blasphemous symbol against Christianity.

One very important thing that we also convey about music is love. I am a firm believer in the scripture that warns us to not awaken love before its time. The majority of music is rooted in eros love. My children are 8 and 10. It is a tender age and very impressionable. The last thing they need is to develop an eros kind of love. And this type of love is fueled by music, movies and other forms of media. We teach our daughters that this type of love is not to be awakened before its rightful time. Many songs may just be about boyfriend/girlfriend relationships, but the lyrics indicate fornication and feelings that should never be released outside of marriage.

Do we forbid our children to listen to all secular music? No, because songs like Natasha Bedingfield's "Unwritten" and Pharrell's "Happy" have great meanings and aren't motivated by sex and drugs. However, what we do tell our children is that they should pay attention to the words of a song before singing it. It has become the norm in our home. And whenever the kids hear a new song they listen to the words. If the song has a lot of metaphors and adult phrases they ask us what it means. We tell them. And many times they are shocked by the meanings of these songs and even more surprised that all their friends listen to it. 

Am I saying all secular music is bad? In my opinion, no. What I am saying is that a lot of it is not appropriate for children. And we choose to teach our children the meaning behind things and protect their spirits from things of this world that one day may try to inch it's way into their lives. Call me old fashioned, but I'd rather our children be "fashioned" in morality than styled in humanism!