Music--How do you monitor?

[Anonymous]

Just realized my 12 year old has been listening to explicit music on his phone. We're not okay with this. How do you monitor this? I know we can get Spotify and do a family plan with parental controls. I'm inclined to do this so he has options for good music that isn't explicit. Anyone else run into this? Thanks.

[Anonymous]

I don't. It's art. She can listen to whatever she wants. DD cried when Lil Peep died. I think it's ridiculous but when I think of what I listened to at her age ....

[Anonymous]

Agree with PP to a large degree.

Listen with him and talk about it.

[Anonymous]

Agree, we don’t censor it

[Anonymous]

My DS is 14 (which I know is older) and he listens to explicit music. I won't censor. But I do talk about demeaning words to women and offensive racist words that I don't allow to be repeated and I won't allow him to play that music out loud.

[Anonymous]

My elementary daughters love Lizzo. I was obsessed with Prince from age 10. Unless it’s misogynist or racist, I’d say give a wide berth.

[Anonymous]

I don’t censor either. Thing is, even if it’s not on their phone they are listening to it. And if you have older kids your younger kids are going to hear it unless you keep your kids separate.

[Anonymous]

My parents were very strict but the two things they gave us total freedom with were books and music. I don’t censor either other than refusing to listen to garbage when I’m driving.

[Anonymous]

If you try to censor, you will only drive them to it more. Let it go....

[Anonymous]

Op I agree with you. We don’t like or “allow” it either but with DS at 15, it’s pretty much out of our control

But I don’t allow it where I can here it. And we do talk about it with hopes that he will eventually become more sensitive to this

[Anonymous]

There's no way you can control it. You allow them out of the house, right?

[Anonymous]

When I think of all the times I sang "Like a virgin, touched for the very first time..." at the top of my lungs while my dad drove me home from hebrew school .... and he never said a word.

But he noticed, and used Madonna's music as a jumping off point to talk to me about women's rights and choice and being provocative, etc. Props to conservative dads who teach their daughters to own themselves!

[Anonymous]

We took off all the explicit filters because they blocked the Hamilton songs. I wish there was a filter that would just let you block racists and misogynists, but it’s not that sophisticated.

[Anonymous]

I don't censor music and never have. Nothing like your eight year old singing, "Before I leave brush ma teeth with a bottle a Jack..."

[Anonymous]

We don't.

Silly to monitor it. There are so many more things to worry about.

Listen with them and talk about it.