Music and Your child

It was a hectic weekend, my schedule was as crazy as always and my hair needed attention. I was far from my stylist and meeting my new client with a drab hairstyle was out of the question. The exterior of the hair saloon I was directed to was distasteful but my choices were limited. The interior turned out to be classy and the jamz that had lured me inside was actually coming from my favorite music station on the television. It happened to be a unisex hair saloon and unlike the male section which was quite busy, I was the only female being attended to. The stylist was a young man with a cute tattoo that got me wishing I could get over my phobia for needles. Tattooing my darling’s name somewhere on my body would make serious sense... Anyway back to my story.



Halfway through my hair ordeal, a young man walked in with three very young boys. The eldest would be nine years I guessed while admiring their poise. As expected, they joined the queue and before long, their eyes became glued to the TV set and the music video that most Nigerian artists have turned into soft porn. The nine year old was singing along and nodding with interest so I became worried and demanded that the station be changed. To my chagrin, I was a lone soldier in that battle as almost all the adults in that saloon felt the boys should not be restricted. To cut the long story short, after much ado, I finally got the owner to switch to another channel. 

You can call me old school, but I believe children should not be exposed to explicit music at home or anywhere.

Globalization, especially through information technology, though positive and generally appreciated has resulted in most Nigerians imbibing all the negative aspects of the western world, while conveniently ignoring the safety measures. As such, we want to use modern devices but we do not have time to go through the attached manuals. We want to live in a modern and developed society, but very few people are willing to abide by or enforce our laws.

Music plays a major role in the development of children and most parents are unaware of the impact popular music like hip hop, rock and other bestselling albums have on their children. Violent and sexual images, explicit lyrics alluding to sex, suicide, violence against women, drug usage are destructive and can affect your child’s attitude and character negatively. If you can still remember songs you learnt when you were a toddler, then try to imagine the kind of explicit lyrics going through your child’s mind at the moment. Scary right?


In truth, bringing up a child is a difficult job and sadly, there is no formal training for the job. However, we have a duty to guide these children and teach them how to be disciplined, law abiding citizens and in turn better adults.

How do we do this?

We can start by establishing positive, consistent and fair boundaries for your child. Make it a duty to verify what your children are downloading on their phones or viewing with their friends. If you must leave the children alone at home, in the care of a teenager or help, then ensure you use the parental control menu on cable networks. Where you lack the knowledge of how to be a better parent who can instill self confidence in your child, do not be ashamed to ask for help from experts or family members. Your children should come first always.



“You will either profit by or pay for what your children become. raise them properly.”

Darnell Lamont Walker