Friday, March 9, 2007

Music debate ready to roar

Get ready for the debate over what kids listen to to heat up again. Today's Rocky had an article about how the teen suspects in two recent murders (including the death of a Dacono City Councilman's son) were fans of the Insane Clown Posse. This debate is nothing new. In college, I watched a documentary on two kids (I think in Texas) who tried to kill themselves with shotguns (one succeeded) after listening to Judas Priest. And ICP's vengeful, violence-filled lyrics are nothing new, there some was some speculation that the Columbine killers were influenced by them as well. I don't know how much I buy this debate. Blaming murder on music seems like an cop out to me. But there is little question that our kids are influenced to at least some degree by what they listen to or watch. We slapped warning labels on CDs but iTunes opened a whole world of music listening. What do you think ? Is music making or kids murder?