by Calista Sprague

As parents, we spend a great deal of time worrying about what our children put into their mouths. We worry about hormones in their milk, pesticides on their fruit and too much sugar in their drinks. But what are we letting them put in their ears? They are ingesting music from a variety of places—TV, radio, CDs, iPods, Internet. Are we watching their music diet as closely as their food diet?

Our children look up to us when they are little. For the most part, they like what we like and want to do what we do. They learn to be individual people based mainly on our example, mimics and parrots watching our every move and hanging on our every word. Their taste in music is no exception.

As parents, it is our job to weed through the vast field of musical material to decide what we think is suitable for our little ones.

When my daughter was 5, she came home from her dad’s house with a big smile,“Look what Dad bought me!” She waved the CD, titled Jock Jams, proudly in the air. Perusing its long list of mainly hard rock classics, I almost cried. My child had virgin ears up to that point. The only classics she heard were classical masterworks by Bach and Debussy. Nothing else but Disney, Broadway, folk songs and my lullabies had been allowed in her precious and impressionable head. OK, I’ll admit to an occasional soft-rock CD while we cleaned house or in the car when NPR played a composer I didn’t enjoy. And yes, she was exposed to other music styles on TV, but I regulated that carefully, too!

I wanted to shape her musical preferences before the world of MTV, VH1 and BET got to her. I wanted to share every kid song and folk song I ever knew, Rogers and Hammerstein’s The Sound of Music, Holst’s Planets, Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons and all my other favorites from childhood.

I made it to fourth grade before popular music took over my musical world, but the seeds planted by my parents to appreciate so many other styles were firmly rooted by then. Introducing our daughter to Jock Jams while we still had such control over her listening habits felt like an acceleration of her already brief journey to adulthood.

While they are small, our kids do little without our knowledge or permission. As our children grow to be teenagers, however, they experience an ever-expanding influence from the outside world, and we parents exert diminishing control. We still must continue to set limits, but we no longer have the omnipresent reign we had when they were younger. We have a limited window of time to instill our values and habits. Take advantage of censorship while you can!

Music is a strong medium. Studies show it heightens emotion, strengthens memory and can actually alter brain chemistry, heart rate and blood pressure. Most people would agree that no musical style is inherently evil, and lyrics from just about any genre can be potentially inappropriate. Even my own list—classical, folk, Disney and Broadway—all include examples of songs inappropriate for a youngster’s ears. And on the flip side, countless rock songs have
wholesome, uplifting lyrics.

So as parents, it is our job to weed through the vast field of musical material to decide what we think is suitable for our little ones. That will vary widely for each family. For the big picture, think about your favorite styles of music and think about the messages those styles might send before you decide what you want to share with your little ones. Then, look over the lyrics of each CD before it comes into the house to assess its intended maturity level.

The issue becomes more challenging when you add older siblings to the mix. Consider asking your older children for help in protecting their younger siblings. Let them know that it is important to you that they not be exposed to material inappropriate for their age.

Not a music connoisseur? Most of us would like to offer our children an array of musical styles, but how to choose? Here are a few ideas to help you begin a quality collection of music for your children.

Classical Works
If you don’t know which orchestras or performers to look for, look at the record label. EMI, Virgin Records, Sony and other well-known labels have reputations to uphold, so you can usually count on their offerings to be of a higher quality. BBC has a wonderful website full of great information about music. For an essential classical music guide, visit: bbc.co.uk/music/classical/guides/classical/. They also have wonderful resources specifically for parents. Check out the BBC Parents’ Music Room at bbc.co.uk/music/parents/.

Folk Songs
This genre can vary from beautifully performed recordings by premier artists to horrendous recordings with cheesy electronic accompaniments and out-of-tune singing. If you can listen before you purchase, listen for kids singing sweetly in their head voices (sounds higher). Your child will be able to sing along easier than if the kids are singing in chest voice (sounds lower and closer to speaking or belting). Also look for acoustic instruments rather than electronic. The music will be more authentic and hopefully of a higher quality.

Kids’ Songs
This category overlaps the folk category, but covers a wider range of styles. You can find kids songs in styles from classical to rap and everything in between. Disney, Sesame Street and many other big names produce popular CDs for kids. Still check to be sure the music is appropriate for the maturity level of your child. For example, Disney’s CDs are sometimes aimed at pre-teens and are not appropriate for children of elementary school age or younger. And again, whenever possible look for orchestras or other acoustic instrumentation and children singing in their naturally high voices, not belting it out in low keys.

Broadway and Movie Musicals
Mary Poppins, The Wizard of Oz, The Sound of Music, Cinderella—we all grew up with our personal favorites. With orchestral accompaniments and some of the best singers and performers in the industry, you can’t go wrong with these classics. But more recent shows (and even a few older ones) may have adult themes, synthesized or rock accompaniments and inappropriate dance moves. View them before you let your child watch so you know what they’re being exposed to.

Again, everyone’s threshold and tolerance differs. Most important is knowing what goes in our kids’ ears. They are sponges, soaking up the world around them at an astonishing rate. Pop culture will get to them eventually; it’s inevitable. But we can keep our children’s world as childfriendly and full of childish wonder as long as possible by offering them a healthy musical diet, filled with an array of music styles, rich in history and cultural heritage.

By the way, it’s the oddest thing. Once the novelty wore off, that Jock Jams CD mysteriously disappeared...hmmm…