Rap Music Is Appropriate for Children and Teens

I feel that I have to make the point that Pro has been paraphrasing my orginal statements. Exempli gratia: Statement posted by Pro: "You can't give me a song that curses as much as a rap song..." Statement from my last argument: "Give me a song, from a different genre, that uses a word like that as many times as that song [5]. Clearly, Pro is rewording my statements, with the intention of changing their meaning. The statement from the example above (posted by Pro) is more aggressive, direct, less specific and it is denying the fact that Pro can give me evidence of a song, from a different genre, that uses a word like that as many times as that song. In my original statement, I am simply challenging Pro, not directly stating that Pro cannot. When it comes to being inspecific, I said to give me one that has as much profanity as THAT ONE song, not simply ANY rap song. ............................................................................................................................ "I'm going to ignore the fact that Con provided a link to Yahoo Answers to make her argument for her. Once again, that is nothing but a forum where people type their own opinions. I'm not debating the members at Yahoo.com. I'm debating Con, so if Con has a specific argument that she would like to make then she can type it up in her own words and not expect me to respond to random people who cannot reply to me." Well, this is a tad hypocritical. Saying that you're ignoring that fact is simply another way of making it known to the viewers. Nevertheless, I am being pointed out for using Yahoo Answers, yet it is okay to go use another site that works the exact same way as Yahoo Answers: http://www.answerbag.com... ................................................................................................................................. "Con also completely ignored my conclusion about the dangers of censorship, and only singling out the negatives of rap in particular." You said that not all songs are full of curse words, as there are clean versions of them. But does that mean that the originals have some curses in them? As you said, there are clean versions of songs, and sometimes they are aired on the radio. (Depending on how much profanity is in the song) Most of the song is blurted out. As for singling out the negatives of rap, please, feel free to list the positive effets that rap has on teens. ................................................................................................................................................ ". There are no perfect celebrity role models; Con also ignored my priest analogy" I never said that there are any perfect role models; and whether we are role models for people or not, it doesn't matter. We as humans will always have imperfections about us. Yes, some priests may be child molesters, but that does not give you the right to accuse all of them. Who ever molested those children went to jail, and hopefully their families got closure, but that is a totally different story compared to rappers, as recording music with profanity is not and probably never will be against the law. ............................................................................................................................................ "Con makes it seem as if I have contradicted myself in noting that some songs are truthful and some are not. However, clearly songs, like movies, can be either fiction or non-fiction. While some songs exist strictly for entertainment purposes, some tell a true story. I don't see how this negates any of my arguments. My point was that since rap is a legitimate form of art and culture, that it can be used for good and to express certain truths. That doesn't mean that every rap song is true." In one statement you said that rap helps people "reflect on their experience" which supports the idea that the lyrics are truthful. But in another statement you said that they "do not necessarily live the lifestyle they rap about." This supports the idea that the lyrics are untruthful. I myself, and potentially other people, found this quite baffling when I read the two statements, and simply asked which idea you are supporting. So, what are you trying to say with these two statements? ....................................................................................................................................................... "It seems Con has just skipped my rebuttal and re-stated her original arguments. I more than explained in the last round that parents and not entertainers are responsible for raising children, and how the themes explored in rap can even be used as a catalyst to start important conversations with one's children. Can Con prove that children would be sheltered from these things if specifically prohibited from rap music? I argued no, and mentioned cable television as just one of many other possible vessels of this kind of information. The school yard is another." As you said, parents are responsible for raising children, and will closely monitor what their children watch on television, just as the monitors at school will monitor the children to prevent and violence. I'm not saying that they can be sheltered from certain things forever, as they have to now what to do for their own good, but prohibiting rap music will definitely help kids make better choices. This would eliminate rappers (many of them are on drugs), who children look up to, and they would have less of these bad role models influencing them to make bad choices. ........................................................................................................................................................ When I analyze all of your arguments/rebuttals, I realize that you have only two main points: 1. Profanity can be seen in all music genres. 2. I abandon previous arguments to rebut. yours. (Extending my previous arguments) Profanity can be seen in many genres, such as heavy metal and punk, but is not used as excessively throughout the ENTIRE genre (includes all songs in genre) as the rap genre.