Friday, March 4, 2011
They Are Deaf
I can’t believe that I decided on these questions versus the first one available. To be honest with you all, I believe Bloom to be a bit harsh but at the same time I felt a huge amount of truth to what he was saying. I don’t know where to begin. Music is a wonderful thing. I happen to love music. I’m fascinated with the art of expression music can take you to or allow you to experience. I love the escape within music. With all this in mind, I have to say the generations of our time seem somewhat bland. I don’t know exactly how to explain this so I will do my very best. I think everyone may be far too shallow and very used to that being the norm. I have noticed that the youth use music as a very easy way to experience art. Ask a kid, who is your favorite band or singer/rapper, then ask who is your favorite poet or author, which do you think will get the quickest response? It’s kind of like we are raised in a generation that doesn’t necessarily value intellect. It all starts from home, we sit and watch hours of television, play video games, listen to music. Where is the thought process? Where is the parent stressing the value of intellect, vocabulary, or creative thinking? It’s easier to sit your kid in front of a TV. or radio instead of taking them out to the book store or discussing a topic that sparks some type of educational thought process. I for one, think that there are many factors that contribute to the erosion of the imagination of our young people but we have to definitely pinpoint the obvious. Maybe parents have too many pressures on their selves, with work, bills, taxes, etc. Music is a beautiful thing but the way our society idolizes it does make it so that it interferes with a young person’s development of a passionate relationship to the art and thought, which are the substance in liberal education. I agree strongly with Bloom in this are but also recognize that there are many variables that contribute to this culture of “zombies”, music is just an obvious one to point finger to. The real enemy is not music as a whole though; the real enemy is the “big picture” of the problem. For example, you can blame parents all day long for having obese children but “we” as a people, a society, a culture, have let that happen. In a sense we have made it okay to be overweight, or have a poor diet. The same with music, like TV, video games, and minimal education, we have “Okayed” it as a society to be dull. We need to support each other in driving one another to more “well rounded” a people. We need to teach and promote all things. Like they say, “too much of any one thing is bad”. Our young people need to have a passion for reading and writing. For creating and not just idolizing the artist; becoming the artist! Not to just sit in front of the television, numb, but to value a conversation with another human being. I can understand why Bloom says “they are deaf”; the youth are missing out on so much, much that is no longer valued in our society.
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I agree that it is a shame that young people seem to have a lot of interest in idolizing artists and not much time getting a well-rounded education. They say that education starts in the home with the parents. I believe if you teach your kids the importance of education, they will still be typical teenagers, but they will know that the ultimate goal in school is to get an education. Parents can take the responsibility to talk to their kids, not let the TV raise them.
ReplyDeleteI completely disagree with Bloom and his view on music and culture. I love music also and I see it as nothing but a positive influence in my life and the lives of others. The only thing that is a negative influence on youths are some of the things that are in videos like murder, prostitution, people wearing reeeeeealy slutty clothes, etc. I think those things give teenagers ideas that probably are not going to lead to anything productive. So many songs are about sex it’s unbelievable! At the same time as those things can be a bad influence but kids are always going to want to experiment and try out the forbidden things that they hear so much about. Just like you said it’s not only music that teaches people bad things. That is just one option out there!
I really like what you had to say about exposing young children to other forms of art. Children are like sponges and I also feel that they need to be exposed to many various forms of art. My child loves music, but he also is really into drawing and painting as well. Since I have always been interested in fine art, I do try to read to him and show him pictures from famous painters and he loves learning about them. He is always intrigued when I talk to him about Van Gough, not only because he cut off his own ear, but because of the people in his paintings. I believe that he is learning so much more from fine art than he would ever learn from music. When I explain a sculpture or painting, I have to explain the whole story behind it—the people, way of life, time period, methods they used, etc. I does take time for parents to sit down with their kids to help them learn about the world around them, but when they do they will notice that their children are becoming so much more interested in many other things in life besides who the next great rapper is going to be. I think what you said about parents putting their kids in front of the TV is the biggest injustice you can do to a child and parents should not rely on the school system to teach their children about fine art. Everything I have learned came from my parents taking me to museums and from self studying on the topic. Without parents taking the first steps to get their children interested in something besides music, how can we blame them for getting so wrapped up in the modern music scene?
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that our generation does not seem to care as much about education as generations of the past have. It is a shame that our society is like this, that some people will sit their kids in front of the T.V. instead of taking them to the library, or book store, or just outside to play and explore things. Also it has become so convenient to run through the drive thru and grab dinner for your family instead of making dinner at home. I understand that people work and are busy and this is the best solution for them but what did people do before we had the option of getting our heart attacks in bags? That being said, I do believe that if you make education, taking care of yourself, and eating right an important and necessary a way of life for your children that they will be less likely to stray away from that as adults.
ReplyDeleteI do not agree with Blooms views on music and culture. I think music can have a completely positive effect on someone’s life. That it can influence people to do good things and it is an outlet and escape to whenever needed. Don’t get me wrong there are some bad influences involved with music but to say that every single artist or song of our generation is bad and negative is a complete over dramatization.