+Sarah Leighton

leightsk@mail.uc.edu

Affects listening to

Rap and Hip-Hop Music on

Adolescent Drug Use

“From a study done in 2009, statistics shows that of those members of the population

who are 12 years of age and over 8.7% had used an illicit drug in the past month, 6.6%

had used marijuana, and 2.8% had used some form of hallucinogenic.”

(blog.richmond.edu).

Observation ExperienceMethodsSetting/Participants: Urban high school students in southwest Ohio, by observing in the hallways, cafeteria, and a classroom.

Observation Notes: Students played music in the halls during passing period. The music was loud enough to hear from 5 feet away. Only rap and hip hop music was played using cell phones on speaker mode. Students walked in packs, with one person playing music per pack. Several packs walked and played music at a time.

The average adolescent is exposed to 84 references to explicit substance use per day.

Only 4% of all music is anti drug and alcohol messages.

40% of U.S. young people have tried cigarette smoking, 63% drinking, 38% at least one illegal drug (Berk, p. 300).

“So what we get drunkSo what we smoke weed

We’re just having funWe don’t care who sees

So what we go outThat’s how its supposed to be

Living young and wild and free.”

Wiz Khalifa- Young, Wild & Free Lyrics

Challenging Assumptions Through Self-Reflection1a. What I initially noticed/thought?: The music players/listeners were the kids who had more of a group mentality and were bolder in their actions as a “pack” than they would be individually.1b. Reflection: Impact of cliques (Berk, p. 328-329).

2a. What I initially noticed/thought?: The kids in the pack tend to be the kids who act out more. They are the ones who are bold in talking back and disobeying the rules. They are likely to say something disrespectful to an adult (observed) and putting the phone away temporarily and then taking it back out (observed). The old saying that what we practice (or listen to or live) we become seemed to have a lot of truth to it from what I experienced and saw.2b. Reflection: Adult expectation has a big impact on kids (Berk, p. 325-326). What does it mean when I assume things about a child’s character? How does this lead to a self-fulfilling prophecy and continuation of the behavior? How does this impact the child’s self-esteem, identity, etc.? Adolescence is a time of exploring, experimenting, discovering one self. Context shapes things. Could this also be the case with country music in a different context? What upsets or triggers us so much with rap and hip-hop? What would this student tell me about the behavior if I were to interview them non-judgmentally? Why does this matter to him/her? What would I learn if I asked these students directly about music’s affect on drug use?

Connections to the Literature to Help Deepen My Understanding of the Observations:• Peer pressure to experiment with drugs and alcohol (Berk, p. 299).• Lack of self-esteem if you don’t look and act a certain way

(seductive).• Increase in risk-taking behaviors (globalpost.com)• Addictive behaviors (Berk, p. 300).

Questions that still remain:• How can talking to veteran urban school teachers help early career

urban school teachers learn how to approach music in the hallways?• So what? What do we do about this? • How can we assimilate rap and hip-hop music to educational

learning if music is something the kids are highly interested in? (flocabulary.com)

Interesting Statistic

+ References

Flocabulary is educational hop-hop. (2013). Retrieved from http://www.flocabulary.com/

Nielson. (2012, December 4). Rap and Drugs. Retrieved from http://blog.richmond.edu/rapmusic/2012/12/04/rap-and-drugs/

Parker Pope, T., & (2013, February 5). Under the influence of music. Retrieved from http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/02/05/under-the-influence-ofmusic/?_r=1

Selke, L. A. (2013). Does hip hop affect behavior in kids?. Retrieved from http://everydaylife.globalpost.com/hip-hop-affect-behavior-kids-5073.html

(2013). Rap Music Videos Affects on African American Children. Retrieved from http://hiphop368.wordpress.com/2013/05/15/rap-music-videos-affects-on-african-american-children/