We can break the cycle
« Our parents dont approve of our music and when they were teenagers, their parents didnt like their music. Its a cycle », a teenager once told to a local newspaper.
Maybe true, but the cycle can be broken. How ? Simply by introducing more dialogue, more tolerance and more humor between parents and children and adults and kids in general. Teachers have also a great role to play in that way. They could introduce more current subjects. Kids are sometimes so annoyed by old fashioned teachers who keep talking about artists who used to live in the 17th century. Teenagers would certainly feel more respected if some teachers introduced from time to time a contemporary subject that corresponds to their tastes. Some teachers need to be re-educated, so to say. They seem to ignore that there is a lot to learn from kids. They are often disgusted by the music that pleases teenagers, because they have a very superficial look at it.
One of my eldest kids teacher made a comment on 8 Mile out of ignorance. She said in front of the whole class that Eminem had always been very rich and the whole class started laughing.
Many people dont dare having an objective look at hip hop culture, because they are totally afraid of it. Hip hop refers to ghetto culture and values. As well as you cannot dissociate grafittis from ghetto, you cannot separate it from rap music. Hip hop and gangsta rap is deranging to many parents and teachers because of the many cusswords and references to guns and drugs it contains.
But adults need to look further. They need to discover the beauty and the poetry of street culture that is hidden behind the rough words. They need to discover the beauty of the beats and the rythms. But what they need most is a sense of humor to understand what makes their kids laugh crazy.
A better mutual understanding between adults and kids, a better acceptance of our teenagers tastes will help us to break the cycle. It is possible. My eldest son and me have broken it. We both listen to the same kind of music and it has improved our relationship for a great part. It is never to late to open our mind