Teen life: Learning to love your son’s taste in music
Here are a few tips to help you be a laidback parent when the volume is turned up…
If listening to your son’s favourite music brings you out in clichés from your parents’ era, you need to get hip to the beat!
Golden rules for happy household listening
• Just listen, decide, and don’t pass judgement unless your opinion is sought. If you’re worried about the messages behind the lyrics do a bit of research (on the internet) and find out more about the band and their followers – this could lead to useful discussions about relationships, drugs and other difficult issues if really needed.
• Don’t banish your child to his room, let him play his music downstairs if he wants. This will give you the chance to find out what he likes about it – you may find you’re worrying about bad language while he’s just enjoying a good rhythm or guitar solo.
• Remember what it was like to be a teenager yourself. Liking odd music doesn’t necessarily lead to odd behaviour, so all is not lost, although your son’s taste might well influence his taste in clothes.
Savvy tip
Try to time-travel back to your teenage years, and think about which songs remind you of first dates, big bust-ups, great holidays, meeting new friends, etc. Your son will be affected by his favourite music in much the same way, so getting to know what he’s listening to could give you a clue as to what’s going on in his life.
Pass it on – rediscover your musical soul
If your youthful attitude has got lost among the responsibilities of adulthood, see if there is any common ground between your music collection and your child’s. Sign yourself up to a music sharing website like last.fm where you can enter your own tastes in music and it will play you things you know and new things you might like – a great way to explore for free and then buy what sounds good.