Food for thought

It continues to amaze me how there are people in the world who continue to believe that music, video games and movies have a dramatic impact on youth and how they act. I don't believe this in its entirety. I believe that if this is ALL your child or a child sees, then yes it will have an impact.

As a child you continue to learn as you grow, mainly by your environment. I can remember when my son was in pre-k and his teacher told me that he said the Sh@# word in school and in the correct context (dropped something, made a mistake hit his arm on something etc). It dawned on me that this (unfortunately) was my word of choice when such events occurred. So I stopped using it around him and guess what..he did to. I am a firm believer that there is not a child under the age of 6 that you can't control through sheer manipulation, intimidation, rewards or positive reinforcement.

When a child listens to a certain type of music and you don't expose them to anything else and their environment emulates the behavior, then yes the child may try to duplicate the behavior. As a parent you still have an opportunity to explain that this is JUST a song. When your child watches a violent movies or plays a violent video game AND they see the same behaviors or actions in their h9ome and neighborhood, yes then it may have influence.

However; again, as a parent you have to step up and 1. Stop buying these items 2. Balance it out with some positive video games or TV. shows (my children know who Tupac and Frank Sinatra are) 3. BE A ROLE MODEL...Show your child a better way.  If you raise a child that feels connected to the streets and behaves like people in the streets, don’t be upset when they get treated like someone in the streets. Here are a few suggested starting points:

-It's ok to speak clear English
-sorry Ebonics is NOT a an official language (if you want a job or a loan from a bank etc)
-you don't have to dress like everybody else in the world (or on the block)
-its ok to make good grades
-it's ok to be an athlete OR NOT
-there is nothing wrong with who you are nor how you look
-it's fine to walk around with a book, away from a fight, the other direction of chaos and turn down and invitation to gossip

Children who look to people on TV and rap artists as role models do so because they don't have one. They don't know who they are so they take on the persona of someone that the world deems important. WHY, for the respect, admiration notoriety....start treating them with love, respect, admiration (for good grades, helping around the house or with younger siblings etc) at home and see how balanced they become.