Some of my students put this together over the holidays, and couldn't wait to see it on the data projector.You can't move here for Ripstiks and I have been being an ogre about riding them in the school. Looking at how confident they are, I would have to ask myself if they are really in more danger on them than off.
Thanks for your question, it is an important one. As educators we have an important role to play in settings norms for what is and isn’t acceptable.
These boys created this video out of school with their own equipment and posted the results on YouTube, so it is not really a matter of me ‘letting’ them do anything. However, I did have a choice about showing it in our classroom, and in making that decision I did consider the language used and the attitudes displayed in the music they have used.
I am pretty comfortable with ‘curse’ words in music as long as it is good music, and the language is not excessive. I teach high school kids in a situation where it would be naive to think my students don’t swear – your situation may be different. As part of our learning we frequently listen to top forty and new music in the classroom and I use this opportunity to discuss which songs are not appropriate for school and which are. We decide jointly and remove songs we have decided are not acceptable. I always have the power to eliminate songs the students might think are ok, but seldom need to use it. In making these decisions we frequently refer to one of the many music lyrics sites available, and often the students are surprised to realise what they have been listening to.
What I do have an issue with is sexist or racist attitudes in music, especially hip hop. I can’t quote any study on it, but it seems reasonable that listening to a song over and over would eventually start to normalise these attitudes in the listener. I have a number of students that are distressingly impressed by the ‘gangsta’ attitudes displayed by and sung by some popular hip hop artists. Last year as a prac-student I taught a lesson on Dr Dre (infamous for his song “Chicks ain’t shit but hoes and tricks”) examining the attitudes to women he promoted.
In the case of the video, I decided to play it, and used it as an opportunity to discuss the music choice. I think, with these students, that is a more productive approach than just refusing to play the video. The students in the video got a self-esteem boost, the other students enjoyed it, we got to discuss a couple of points about the music and I was able to say how proud I was that they were out there creating something and not just being passive consumers.
