Show Standard-Examin- Friday April 1 9 2002 er 3 It’s just a sticker on album covers What’s more just because an album has that sticker Nuzum says it doesn’t necessarily mean that warning labels really there’s profanity on it to come with a “It just means that it’s explicit in some meaning of the word which is a “Parental Advisory: subjective qualifier” he Explicit Content” label found on many completely said “So it’s impossible to assign any a rap album and other compact discs these days would do well to carry its kind of objective criteria like it meets this certain threshold It’s just own advisory It could be affixed to that somebody thought it might cause the lower lefthand comer of the some trouble so ” menacing-lookin- g stickers and could read something A rating system like “Parental Advisory Advisory: The album rating system was The Presence or Absence of an conceived to be similar to originally Content’ on this sticker ‘Explicit album does not necessarily reflect the the movie rating system However Nuzum says that’s just not possible appropriateness or inappropriateness Movies are rated basically by one of the album’s lyrics” group following a policy statement so Take Jack Black and Kyle Gass there’s some sense of standardization for example The profane to it But there are only ISO to 200 comedymusic duo that goes by the movies to be rated each year name of Tenacious D will be in “There are 25000 songs that are concert Tuesday at Saltair Resort and the “Greatest Band released in a year on different CDs” he said “It’s just not practical” on Earth” applies the more Nuzum insists that the only person liberally than KISS applies makeup who is qualified to make the decision The band’s songs when not about on what a child should listen to is the rock ’n’ roll are about sex And even when the times are about rock ’n’ roll parent And he worries that parents think there is some magic way to they’re usually mostly about sex screen music so that they don’t have What we’re saying here is if ever to pay attention to what their children there was an album deserving of a are interacting with Parental Advisory sticker this is it “I know what I think is right and And yet does Tenacious D’s debut album carry such a sticker? wrong” Nuzum said “I don’t have any children but if I did I think that I OK yes it does But the point is it would want to be the one making the doesn’t HAVE to That’s because decision about what is right and unlike the motion picture rating system the Parental Advisory label is wrong I wouldn’t want Tipper Gore making decisions for my family Nor strictly voluntary do I think she would feel very “I think that ‘Parental Warning’ comfortable with me deciding what stickers are a bad solution to a her children can see” nonexistent problem” says Eric Nuzum author of the book “Parental Pay attention Advisory” (Quill 2001) and a pop So then if you can’t rely on the culture critic “The first thing to remember about Parental Advisory labels what’s a Parental Warning labels is that parent - and a child - to do? Some of you may not like the answers they’re voluntary and they’re not For starters parents need to get to standardized Which means you’ll know the music their children are only find them on CDs by an artist who doesn’t mind them being there” listening to “You don’t have to become an avid Nuzum says the warning labels don’t “fix anything” listener” says Jim Bird a “I feel terrible for parents who use psychologist and professor of child and family studies at Weber State this as a kind of litmus test for University in Ogden You do something that’s OK for their kids to however have to pay attention buy because it doesn’t accomplish “Like anything else you need to be anything” he said aware This is your child’s culture Nuzum said parents are not This is what they’ll be exposed to necessarily protecting their children from profane sexual or violent lyrics You need to know what it is” Bird says it’s just as important to by only allowing them to purchase CDs without the warning labels be aware of children’s music as the movies they watch “It just means it doesn’t have a The problem is it’s easier to sticker” he said “That’s the only access their viewing habits than their thing it means” By MARKSAAL staff Standard-Examin- Those black-and-whi- te self-describ- Tenacious listening habits Ask parents t name five popular movies right now and they’d probably be able to But ask them to name five current popular albums for teenagers and tney’ll most likely draw a blank That’s because unlike television books and movies - which are controlled by adults - popular mWc is created by youth for youth “Music is theirs” Bird said “The youth are saying ‘This is ours’ When I was a child the cultural gap or generation gap was typically lined by music It’s the ownership of youth” Talkbout it Farol Nelson a lecturer in the Child Development Lab at Utah State University in Logan says music is important in her family She started out as a music major and plqys the flute and piano Her husband teaches school band and plays in jazz and rock groups And all three of their D children grew up playing music and performing in bands “I’m a liberal I’ll tell you now” Nelson said “I don’t believe you should limit your children’s music The more you make it the more enticing it becomes “We’ve never said you can’t listen to this or you can’t listen to that We have always just talked about what’s good music and bad music - and in our family that includes quality not off-limi- ts just lyrically” Admitting that her children have listened to their share of “questionable” music Nelson believes communication and compromise are key “It all boils down to communication” she said “If you’ve got good communication with your kids from Day One then you can talk and no one gets upset runs upstairs See ADVISORY4 |