Update Author:

AAP Council on Communications and Media

Music plays an important role in the socialization of children and adolescents. Popular music is present almost everywhere, and it is easily available through the radio, various recordings, the Internet, and new technologies, allowing adolescents to hear it in diverse settings and situations, alone or shared with friends.

Research on popular music has explored its effects on schoolwork, social interactions, mood and affect, and particularly behavior. The effect that popular music has on children’s and adolescents’ behavior and emotions is of paramount concern. Lyrics have become more explicit in their references to drugs, sex, and violence over the years, particularly in certain genres.

A teenager’s preference for certain types of music could be correlated or associated with certain behaviors. As with popular music, the perception and the effect of music-video messages are important, because research has reported that exposure to violence, sexual messages, sexual stereotypes, and use of substances of abuse in music videos might produce significant changes in behaviors and attitudes of young viewers.

Pediatricians and parents should be aware of this information. Furthermore, with the evidence portrayed in these studies, it is essential for pediatricians and parents to take a stand regarding music lyrics.

The entire policy statement “Impact of Music, Music Lyrics, and Music Videos on Children and Youth,” released in November 2009, can be accessed at http://aappolicy.aappublications.org/cgi/content/abstract/pediatrics;124/5... . This policy statement is a revision of the AAP policy statement “Impact of Music Lyrics and Music Videos on Children and Youth” posted in April 1996.