The Kids Aren't Alright?

Around the world, it's pretty well known that most teenagers would rather blast their music from a stereo or be at a concert that breaks the sound barrier than actually listening to their tunes at the recommended volume. However, a recent study from those darn Dutchmen and women gives parents yet another reason to think the kids aren't alright with their blaring music.

Ineke Vogel from the Erasmus MC University Medical Center in Rotterdam led a team of researchers whom studied the effects of loud music and how it effects behavior in teenagers. In this report, Vogel found that teens who listened to an MP3 player at a dangerously loud volume were twice as likely to smoke marijuana than those who listened at the recommended volume, which is sixty decibels. Also, teens who attended loud concerts or partied at deafening clubs were six times more likely to drink excessively than those who did not go to these ear-splitting outings.

A Concert that Brainwashes Teens Into Drinking

Personally, I think it's all garbage.

Yes, there is a link between listening to loud music and making those decisions, but it definitely is not what this team was trying to prove. It's highly unlikely that listening to loud music can somehow brainwash someone into some rebellious person they never were. What would actually be logical is that those kids who were smoking pot and getting incredibly wasted were going to do those things regardless.

Think about it; authority tells them to turn their music down, so they turn it up. If authority tells them not to drink and not to smoke, they're going to drink and they're going to smoke. But say a nice, well-behaved, red-blooded, American teenager is listening to their music over the recommended volume, they're not going to morph into this rebellious new version of themselves that is a polar opposite of who they actually are.

In the end, the only true thing your music really has an effect on his your hearing.