A Message From Dr Steve Whitelaw

Do you know what your child is listening to? Are you aware of how much time they spend ‘plugged in’? Do you approve of the language and messages that they are absorbing?

Last week we learned that the school was to be featured on a local radio station. As part of the insert we were asked to send them five songs that represent who we are. Mr Taylor tasked some of our students to propose songs that are popular among teenagers at the moment. Sadly, none of them were deemed appropriate.

Generational differences in what is deemed musically acceptable is nothing new. In the 1950s parents were horrified by the actions of “Elvis the pelvis.” In the 1960s the clean-cut suited image of boy bands like ‘The Beatles”, totally acceptable to parents, was challenged by the more aggressive lyrics and appearance of “The Rolling Stones.”

In the late 1970s Punk Rock and Heavy Metal emerged from the insipid disco era and was followed in turn by the Gothic Rock and New Romantics of the 1980s. All of these genres challenged pre-conceived societal norms. But there was always a choice; there was always an option of enjoying music that was independent of any social strata and created simply for its pleasantness to listen to. Watching MTV today is to be presented by a continuous stream of music videos containing explicit lyrics performed by semi-naked clones. I think the raunchiest girl group of my teenage years was Bananarama. To watch one of their videos today looks like footage from a Girl Guides’ day trip. Today, it would seem that music that doesn’t challenge societal norms or contain explicit lyrics is unlikely to climb the charts.

These overtly sexualised ‘stars’ are what our young people are being presented with as role models. The importance of this music is pervasive among many of our students as shown by how often we have to reprimand them for wearing AirPods and headphones even between the change of classes. Ease of access has certainly changed dramatically from the days when portable cassette playing ‘walkmans’ and CD players first came on the scene.

Music can be a form of escapism. I vividly remember playing my Walkman in 1990 when I was in the army. I had two cassettes, a “Queen” compilation and a Greatest Hits of “The Carpenters” album. I played them every night to regain a sense of sanity after days which were often nonsensical. I certainly did not feel the same need travelling between Maths and French classes. I often see students getting out of their parents’ cars in the morning already ‘plugged in’ and I do wonder if sometimes this is more than just harmless entertainment. When does it become a default opt-out of social interaction?

Do you know what your child is listening to? Are you aware of how much time they spend ‘plugged in’? Do you approve of the language and messages that they are absorbing? How many of you, like me, have a large collection of music CDs that you will probably never play again but you cannot bring yourself to throw away? I think this is partly because we remember how much money we spent on them, but maybe even more so because we remember how that music formed an important part of different stages of our lives. In a sense, it helped to shape the kind of person
that we became.

Our young people certainly grow up in a difficult time with multiple devices competing for their attention. I hope that within this space they still find time to shut down the devices and experience that the most fulfilling interactions that they can have are in face to face contact with those around them.

Dr Steve Whitelaw