Music has an impact

Students hear the virtues of substance abuse sung about in popular music 84 times every day. Lady Gaga’s smash hit “Just Dance” is just one example (click here for the lyrics). This week 5 of the top 25 singles on iTunes were labeled “Explicit”.“Please don’t do what the lyrics are telling you to do.”Doubt the impact of music on students behavior? Volunteer to chaperon a dance at your local high school like blogger Jonathan McKee did and you’ll probably see this:”The majority of today’s kids don’t even face each other at a dance. The girl simply turns around and backs into the guy, the guy puts his hands on the girl, and the grinding begins. Sometimes two girls will face each other, almost pressing against one another, then a guy will appear on each side from behind, sandwiching the girls in the middle.”Offended? Angry? Us too!Trying to scare adults with the lyrics of teens’ music choices is nothing new. But that’s really not our point. For nearly 25 years, the passion of the interlinc team has been driven by these realities:

1. Students are listening to music with messages contrary to the message of Christ
2. Christian music can counter those messages and reinforce the lessons youth leaders are trying to instill

And while we’ll be the first to admit there is (and always has been) cheesy music out there, there is a ton of great sounding Christian music across all genres and styles. But it doesn’t matter how good it is if your students never hear it.