Rap music contributes to violent crimes

I am sorry my definition of rap was not up to par. I found it on a website, it was not my own definition. I would also like to say to readers that I do NOT believe that rap music should be limited. I am doing this for a school project and solely that. I also thank my opponent for taking this debate, but I would like to point out that this is also very much so for researching aspects. If I say anything improper or has lack of evidence, I apologize. I am attempting to make this a real case scenario as much as possible for myself. ======= Argument 1 ======= Last time I checked, I am supposed to support my arguments with evidence that supports my side, not yours. So the POSITIVE (yes I can use caps as well) effects would not exactly prove my arguments well. ======= Rebuttal ======= 'Findings thus far are mixed, but overall they suggest that listening to rap music does not cause aggressive or deviant behaviour.' [1] I would like to bring attention to the findings are MIXED, there is grey area in this situation. Therefore, it can still cause aggressive and deviant behaviour. 'Another study found that adolescent females, after watching a rap video depicting women in sexually subordinate roles, were more inclined to express acceptance of violence against women in a dating situation. However, increased acceptance of crime and violence appears to be linked with viewing violent or sexist rap videos rather than listening to rap music on its own.' [1] Yes I agree that it is not only rap music on it's own, but the production of rap music equals the production of rap videos (in most scenarios). ======== '"The thing is: the young people who are very impressionable want to make it big in a similar way. But the danger here is that the young people at the street level…they don't have the same protection [as the commercial rap starts], and they are carrying guns. And young people are losing their lives. And this has been reflected from the role models that these people follow."[2] I believe this involved and aspiration to be part of the rap scene is the exact situation we are trying to avoid for adolescents and young adults everywhere. I agree that most successful rap artists come from impoverished backgrounds, but a lot of people who can familiarize themselves with them tend to follow their prior life style and fall in to the same bad habits, without the fame. Involvement with the rap scene has also put kids on the streets, trying to live their big dreams of becoming the next rap star. ======== '"Music forms an illusion and young people take it on board, because one known fact is that people connect to music lyrics, and these illusions are what young people take on and live with and try to portray in their own lifestyles, and that is such a big danger."[2] Explain how these behavioral problems before rap were not evident until rap was introduced? Frankly, on both parts, these will be biased opinions because there are scenarios for every situation possible. There are situations where people may develop the problem through the music, have had it before, or never occurred one throughout. Once again, it was never stated that rap music 100% did not influence this said behaviour. Limiting would solve the issues of children being able to walk into a store and buying vulgar and violent music. Little pictures on the bottom saying explicit content usually does not stop kids from buying it. It may be the responsibility of the parents and the individual themselves, but perhaps it is needed on a greater scale to be the responsibility of society to protect the future of tomorrow. '"If I had a choice I would say it should be completely be cut off, but the thing is they say forbidden fruit attracts, and I do believe that if there is a market you know then the negative rapping should be censored. And I'm not saying it should be 18 or 21, I do believe it should be censored to 25, because all young people, by the age of about 25, would have become fathers or they would have matured a little bit, and that's when they will be able to actually make up their minds in relation to what should be heard in the house and that shouldn't be" [2] Also, for the infringement upon civil liberties, that could go any way regarding any issue. Such as: drinking age, age of eligibility to vote. etc. ================== In conclusion, there may not be consistent evidence that rap on its own significantly influences behaviour, but there is no consistent evidence that rap doesn't either. 'There are many other rappers who also feed young people the type of lyrics that can influence positive thinking. These artists are usually not in the mainstream but you can find their music online.' [3] Therefore the rap music that is in mainstream, that is violent and negative, should be limited. [1] http://cognitive-psychology.suite101.com... [2] http://static.rnw.nl... [3]http://www.goarticles.com...