Should Children Under 18 Be Barred From Buying Some Rock Recordings? - Warning: This Music Is Rated X

Sep 29, 2026

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Report addresses public debate over whether minors under 18 should be barred from buying certain rock recordings with lyrics critics call objectionable. It outlines arguments about alleged promotion of violence, unusual sex, drugs, alcohol, and devil worship, and notes lawmakers in multiple states seeking labeling requirements and restrictions, including parental warning labels. The piece also presents free-speech objections referencing the First Amendment, plus counterclaims from critics that lyrics do not demonstrably harm teens.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryExam

FormatPDF

Pages9

Reading Time23 min

AccessFree to download

Should Children Under 18 Be Barred From Buying Some Rock Recordings?

WARNING: THIS MUSIC IS RATED X

New Laws

Censorship?

Bad Influence?

Sime..garbage..poison destroying the minds of.young people... These are some of themilder words critics haveused to describe-notdrugs or crime-but somekinds of roc music.Underattack are some songs byheavy metal and rap groupssuch as Guns N'Roses,Ice-T,and 2 Live Crew. What disturbs the criticsare lyrics by these and oth-er groups that,say the crit-ics,openly promote vio-lence,weird sex,drugs,alcohol,and even devil wor-ship.These things in them-selves are bad enough,saythe critics;but what makesthem even worse is thatthey are on recordings thata child under 18 can buy ina record store. Since Curent Events is anewspaper read by many ShouldChildrenUnder 18Be BarredFrom BuyingSome RockRecordings? # WARNING:THIS MUSICISRATEDX young people,the editorscouldn't print the lyricsthat critics object to-evenf they wanted to.But somany people feel so strongly about such lyrics thatlegislators in 35 stateshave called for laws limi-ting the ability of childrenunder 18 to purchase al-bums with “objectionablelyrics." "If the rock lyrics thatI'm referring to were print-ed and sold in magazines,"says Florida state represen-tative Joseph Amell,"theywould be considered ob-scene and therefore illegalto be sold to people under 18.But those same wordsin songs..are consideredby the record industry to befreedom of expression andperfectly legal.” In 1985,reacting togrowing pressure from Con- # CURRENT EVENTS The rap group 2 Live Crew-all their albums have waming labels aHached. gress,some major recordcompanies agreed to putwarning labels on recordscontaining lyrics aboutdrugs,alcohol,sex,vio-lence,or devil worship.Thelabels,which say "ParentalWarning:Objectionable Lyr-ics"or "Explicit Lyrics,"are designed to warm par-ents about the recordingstheir children might buy. ## New Laws But-to a growing num-ber of people-these vol-untary warnings aren'tenough.Many record com-panies,they charge,haven'tbeen labeling recordingsand many record stores payno attention to the labels.Anumber of states and citieshave passed,or are nowconsidering,laws that willrequire record store ownersto make sure that all re, -Courlesy of Luke Skyywalker Records cordings with objectionablelyrics are labeled.In a num-ber of states there are alsolaws making it a crime tosell such recordings to chil-dren under age 18.Here's asample of such laws: A record store ownerwas arrested for selling"Move Somethin'"by 2Live Crew under an Alaba-ma law prohibiting obscenerecordings. ●In Florida,three rec-ord stores were accusedunder a Florida law ban-ning sales to people under18 of recordings depicting"sexual excitement oractivities." In Pennsylvania,thestate legislature is consid-ering a law banning sales ofrecordings with lyrics aboutsex,violence,drugs,and al-cohol unless a parental (continued on page 2) warning is attached to theoffending album.Similarproposed laws are now be-ing considered in Virginia,Arizona,New Mexico,Iowa,Tllinois,Oklahoma,Dela-ware,Kansas,and Mary.land. ## Censorship? All of this does not sitwell with many rock fansand others.To them,suchlaws are censorship.Censor-ship is controlling whatpeople can read,watch,orlisten to.And such censor-ship,say opponents of lawslimiting access to record-ings,goes against the FirstAmendment to the U.S.Constitution granting free-dom of speech. "You cannot force indi-viduals or record dealers to FOCUS ON THEieWSElvis Presley:RockPioneerElvis Presley did nof invent rock-and-roll.But his singing ability,hisslage presence,and his legend alldid much to popularize that musi-cal form. This month,ABC-TV started aweekly series,"Elvis,"abouf theperformer.His life was so packedwith action that the series coversonly a slice of his early years,1954-58. Elvis first achieved stardom in1956 with the song "HeartbreakHotel."Elvis Presley fan clubs soonsprouted all over the world.Beforehis death,the clubs numberedmore than 400,000 members. Hits such as "Hound Dog"and."All Shook Uo"kept Elvis high onthe rec

FAQs

What issue does the report focus on for people under 18?

Whether children under 18 should be barred from buying certain rock recordings that critics describe as objectionable.

What measures do supporters of labeling laws propose?

They call for warning labels on albums and, in some places, laws making it a crime to sell such recordings to minors under age 18.

Why do opponents argue these laws are censorship?

Opponents say controlling what people can read, watch, or listen to conflicts with free speech protections under the U.S. Constitution.

Sep 29, 2026

Upload by Himbo