Dancehall music is to be blamed for behaviour of young people

THE EDITOR, Madam:

After hearing what caused the dispute that led to the death of a student on Monday and hearing how popular guard rings have become among youngsters, it left me wondering where young people get most of their influence.

The other day a veteran artiste was speaking about how the content of dancehall has degraded, and he spoke specifically about how current artistes sing about indulging in occult practices, such as using special oils, wearing guard rings, and indulging in bloody occult activities.

Is it a coincidence that the same activities that are glorified in popular songs are the same activities that have become popular in schools?

I remember my days in school and how music influenced my thinking and behaviour. I started high school in 1998 and left 2003. It was an all-boys school in Kingston, and of course dancehall music was popular among the students.

I can remember distinctly how our behaviour at school was influenced by what was acceptable and unacceptable, according to dancehall artiste.

When I was going to university, I could see the difference in how high school students were now behaving in comparison to how we behaved in high school. This would be about 2004/5 coming up.

TIME FOR MUSICIANS TO TAKE RESPONSIBILITY

When you look at the music of that era, you realise that while the artistes were still saying what the older artistes were saying, the content became far more explicit and foreign. So you could see the change in behaviour in line with the change in music.

It is obvious that music has a major and direct influence on the way people behave, especially young people.

I am not saying that music caused the young man to be stabbed or any other incident; I am simply saying that the music dictates what is acceptable and what is not.

It is now time for musicians to take responsibility for their words and if they don’t, the Government needs to start censoring some of these artistes and banning songs.

GARTH THOMPSON