America, country of the free. In this country we possess the right of freedom. We are allowed to
speak out mind, as we have the right to free speech. It is in the constitution. Tell me; do you like
being able to speak your mind? Correct me if I am wrong, but I am betting that you enjoy that right.
Now tell me, what would you do if a musician came out with a song discussing your religion? Or if
your children hear an explicit song on the radio or on a CD? Would you sit there and ignore the
music? Or would you try to censor the artist? Would you try to prevent them from performing in your
town? Would you attempt to have their albums banned from entering the shelves of your local record
stores? Is that what you would do?

Trying to ban an artist, to prevent them from performing, trying to ban their music is what
censorship is. Concerned parents, religious groups, and politicians have all tried to achieve
censorship of certain artists. Some attempts have failed, others have succeeded. People have tried
to censor music for religious reasons, due to obscene lyrics, and for radical political views, among
others. What these people do not seem to understand is that music is a way for a person to express
themselves, it is a way for them to speak their mind. Censorship if basically a person's way of
shutting up someone with differing views them then. If someone does not like what an artist is
talking about in their lyrics, they will try and censor them. Censorship of music is not new though,
the ideas have been around for ages. For example, in 1865 following the civil war, Southerners were
forbidden from publicly singing pro-Confederate songs. Censorship is not new, but it is still a
problem. Censorship is a bad solution to a nearly nonexistent problem. Censorship is a violation of
our rights, and so why use a non-constitutional solution to a nonexistent problem?

As citizens of the United States of America, we have to the right to free speech. It is in the
constitution. There are some restrictions to it though. Obscene speech (speech that appeals to the
prurient interest, depicts or describes sexual conduct in an offensive way and speech that lacks
serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value) is prohibited, as well as fighting words
(words meant to incite violence). Many people have tried to ban music due to it being obscene, as
they put it. But, all music passes the SLAPS test. The SLAPS test is a test designed to see if a
piece of art or other work is obscene or not. SLAPS stands for serious literary, artistic,
political, or scientific value. If something being accused of obscenity does not have any of those
values, then it is considered obscene. But music itself is art, so therefore it passes the SLAPS
test without a doubt. Music is protected by free speech, and is not considered obscene due to it
having artistic value.

People for ages have said that music has major influence on the kids. What influence? Music,
contrary to popular belief, does not have that great an influence on kids. People say that music has
caused people to become violent, commit suicide, and do drugs, among other things. In the words of
Eric Nuzum, 'This is not true, but it is very difficult to shrug off completely any influence that
rock themes and lyrics may have on an already disturbed child. While it may be possible to prove a
correlation between teens who commit suicide and an interest in heavy metal music, it is not so easy
to demonstrate-or disprove-any cause and effect relationship.' While it is likely that disturbed
individuals are more likely to enjoy heavy metal music then others, it is hard to demonstrate an
actual relationship between violent, suicidal, and self-destructive behaviors. In 1885, former Black
Sabbath singer Ozzy Osbourne was in a lawsuit blaming his song 'Suicide Solution' for the
suicide of a young fan. A couple blamed Ozzy and his record company CBS Records for the death of
their son, John McCollum. They claimed its lyrics encouraged their son to commit suicide. The young
man tragically died by firing a handgun into his head while listening to the song. But, the parents
acknowledged he had emotional problems. Now that is a sensible solution. The boy had emotional
problems that could have been what the sadly drove him over the edge, but the parents did not want
to blame their son for his death so they tried to blame Ozzy. Needless to say, Ozzy won the lawsuit.

The McCollum v. CBS court case (Ozzy case referred to in paragraph 4) is a small example of a big
problem. People are blaming music for their problems, and ignoring the problem on the larger scale.
The PMRC (Parents Music Resource center) tried to censor music because they thought it would
influence their children and other parent's children to do bad. Why blame music for causing a
child to engage in alcoholic habits or drug usage when there are much greater causes? Things like
the people the child is friends with, the environment that the child lives in, and the child's
life at home are much bigger factors. Who is more likely to do drugs and drink before twenty one, a
child with delinquent friends, who is surrounded by druggies and drinkers, and with a bad
relationship with his or her family, or a child with clean friends, who lives in a drug free
environment, and with good relations with family but listens to music which explicitly refers to
drugs and alcohol? If I am not mistaken, I would think you would say the child who lives in worse
conditions would be more likely to drugs. Music does not have as big an influence as people say.
People say that rock and rap music makes their children want to do drugs and drink. Religious groups
say that heavy metal music causes children to practice the occult. But what they do not realize, it
is not what the artist intends by their music, it is what the listener perceives. In 1987, an
interesting study was conducted by social scientist Patricia Greenfield. She played Bruce
Springsteen's classic 'Born in the U.S.A.' to groups of children of varying ages and then
asked them what the song meant. She asked some fourth and eighth grade students what the lyric
'Sent me off to a foreign land, to go kill a yellow man' meant. They were asked who the yellow
man referred to in the song was. None of the students acknowledged the true meaning, a Vietnamese
soldier. Most of the students said it meant a man splashed in yellow paint or a man with a yellow
mask. Many of them said the song's theme was about pride in being an American, not its true
meaning, which discusses the Vietnam War. What all this is saying is that it is not what the artist
intends by their lyrics, it is what the listener perceives. If the listener cannot see the
artist's true lyrical theme, then the listener will come up with a meaning that fits their views
and beliefs.

Music is a tool for a musician to express themselves and their views. Some artists will want to express their more radical views in their music. Views involving religion and radical politics, lyrics describing drugs, alcohol, suicide, occultism, and sex. People blame music containing those themes for drug usage, alcohol usage, occultism, and suicide among our children. What these people are not doing is attacking the root problems. We should be taking on the problems such as how the children get the alcohol and the drugs. In the words of Marilyn Manson when asked what he would say to the kids involved with the Columbine incident, 'I wouldn't say a single world to them. I would listen to what they have to say, and that's what no one ever did.' We should not waste our time blaming music for suicide among our kids. We should be listening to what they have to say, we should be watching them for the warning signs of suicide. People should not be blaming music for our problems, and trying to censor it. Music is an artist's way of saying what they want to say. There will always be musicians who support radical views or musicians that want to talk about drugs and alcohol in their lyrics. There is no stopping them. Music has always been a tool for people to speak their minds, and it should continue to be that way. Musicians should be able to say what they want without fear of censorship. If you do not like the message in a musician's lyrics, then do not try and censor it. You think a musician referencing drugs in their music will make your kid do drugs? How about worrying about where the drugs come from. Worried that a song about suicide will make your kid commit suicide? How about looking for the actual warning signs of a suicidal person in the child. Do not blame the music for the problems in our society; blame the actual causes of our problems.