In Paducah, the affect of violent lyrical content in popular music has been an ongoing debate since the Heath High School shooting. Prior to the Heath shooting, in the case of the school shooting in Jonesboro, Arkansas, one of the teen murderers admitted to law enforcement officers that the rap music he listened to might have contributed to his state of mind before the murders, if not his overall decision to gun down his classmates. Mitchell Johnson, the student, said, "It puts you in a certain state of mind." This is not only relevant to the music/violence debate but it is a crucial element in understanding what is going on with the modern youth. Clearly, it can not be stated that the sole contributing factor in the student's decision to comm

If indeed there is a direct correlation between violence in music and violence in youth, it is important to look at where the connection lies. Is it the violence in the music that causes the violence in our youth, or vice versa? In this debate, Dan Quayle asked, "What kind of artists would put a message of murdering cops in a song for young, impressionable people to hear?" It is equally important to ask, what kind of society would put a song with a message of murdering cops on the charts? If there is a widespread demand for any product, eventually, someone will produce that product. That product feeds back into the violence obsessed society that demanded it, and the result is a never-ending cycle of immoral beliefs that cheapen the value of human life.

Recent musical releases, believed to have been marketed towards impressionable young people, have been the subject of a strong backlash against violence in music. Eminem is a rap artist who has been catapulted to fame in spite of his violent, misogynistic, homo-phobic, and sexually explicit messages. Also known as Slim Shady, Eminem claims that his alter-ego, Shady, is to blame for his violent lyrics. What most people don't know is that Eminem released a positive rap album, as a debut effort, before he became famous from songs like '97 Bonnie and Clyde, a shocking song in which Eminem raps about killing his wife, and asking his three year old daughter to help him dispose of the body. Eminem's positive debut album, which didn't contain the profanity and violence that made him famous, was called Infinity. It failed, miserably.

Parents must take the responsibility of raising their children. It is not the government's duty, or job, to raise our children. The time is past due for parents to realize that children have to be monitored. Children are subjected to violent music, movies, and video games simply because the parents are

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Approximate Word count = 1290
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)