Trap Music
djanna
1,543 Posts
now that we've covered Snap Music, what about Trap Music? Despite the message I find myself really drawn to the dark beats and gritty storytelling of artists like Young Jeezy, but today I have to question my feelings.
A freshman boy came into class wearing a shirt that said "Stop Snitching" and I pulled him aside and said "I don't think that shirt is appropriate for school" and he got all defensive telling me how none of the other teachers have a problem and his friend pipes in and tells me he has three "Stop Snitching" shirts and wears them to school all the time.
Now, I have an issue with "I Got It For Cheap" tees and "Trap or Die" tees because they are drug shirts and the only reason kids can wear them (Vs. marijuana leaf tee) is that most adults aren't hip to what they mean.
But in a time when we have kids bringing guns to school I just don't think we should tolerate a "Stop Snitching" attitude because it could get people killed and obviously it scares kids into not going to an adult when they are getting bullied or threatened at school. It's my job to create a safe environment for my students.
so anyway, I guess what I'm saying is: does anyone else find themselves grappling with issues related to the music they listen to?
A freshman boy came into class wearing a shirt that said "Stop Snitching" and I pulled him aside and said "I don't think that shirt is appropriate for school" and he got all defensive telling me how none of the other teachers have a problem and his friend pipes in and tells me he has three "Stop Snitching" shirts and wears them to school all the time.
Now, I have an issue with "I Got It For Cheap" tees and "Trap or Die" tees because they are drug shirts and the only reason kids can wear them (Vs. marijuana leaf tee) is that most adults aren't hip to what they mean.
But in a time when we have kids bringing guns to school I just don't think we should tolerate a "Stop Snitching" attitude because it could get people killed and obviously it scares kids into not going to an adult when they are getting bullied or threatened at school. It's my job to create a safe environment for my students.
so anyway, I guess what I'm saying is: does anyone else find themselves grappling with issues related to the music they listen to?
Comments
And that is clearly a knock-off, so you have to question the student's commitment.
yes and no in that I can seperate myself from the words they use. But on the flip I think there are many people that can't especially young people. I definitly had my "badass breaking into homes fucking around with folks I shouldn't have" phase that was partially fueled by an image I got from NWA, South Central Cartel, etc. and its no different nowadays I worry that the music I enjoy may be the same music that pushes some kids to be an image of being a dealer, pimp, gangsta, etc.
I also believe that there are plenty of stupid people out there and if they didn't fall for a negative message heard in music they'd fall for some other negative message elsewhere. Its not like you can control others lives only bestow advice that you hope they listen to.
ok
classic! i always loved this one. i mean, so now youre either down OR youre the most unhip teacher at your school. anyways, i doubt you fell for that trap. HA! i make pun.
i think i can be counted as one who is not hip to this
that says it all right there.
you know, i used to have a problem with this. like being all contradictory and such. but in the end, what you listen to in your free time is your business. i dont think you should feel guilty about it cuz you have a clearer understanding of the codes. i think, and far be it for me to give a suggestion cuz i am not a certified teacher or anything, but still. i suggest that you bring it up to your class. you know, have a discussion around it. you might be surprised as to how your students interpret this shirt. they may not even know what it means. plus you get them comfortable enough to talk, then you dont need to fear for anyone's safety in your class. just like you wouldnt need to fear for your safety if your peers were wearing that shit cuz they would have a shared understanding of the whole thing.
anyways, when you coming up to LA to rocka da mic?
anna, i commend you for stepping to the kid, and letting them know that the saying on that shirt has a deeper (and more negative) conotation than what they may think. even though they probably were angry at the time, when they realize you actually know what its from/stand for, they will respect you in the long run.
where/what grade do you teach, aaron?
it's always interesting to have a conversation about what young ppl listen to and what they wear, and WHY. it drives me crazy when they eat red hot cheetos and stain all their papers and listen to shitty ass radio poo. it's unbelievable how many times students have not actually had that conversation- like why do you listen to this? why do you wear this? why do you rep that? obviously it makes them pause and think for a second, and process their own thoughts behind their decisions.
i'm not sure what grade your students are in djanna, but ask them about it!! i want to know what their thoughts are- maybe they didn't even think about it to begin with...there's a real go-wit-da-flow thingy bout high school that can roboticize dem teenz.
that said, my friend used to teach at Crazy High School that has since shut down. when the bangers wore inappropriate clothes/colors they just threw em in the principal's office and had em get jiggy in a muumuu. they figured it would look hard to flex the tuff stuff when you looked like this:
ps. I teach high school
One of my cohort members went to a private school and the kids would group together according to who wore the designer undershirts and the Target undershirts. Yes, kids are that cruel.
I would wear an "I got it 4 cheap" shirt. It would let all the other Chicago diggaz know that I ain't no chump like them other dudes.
"Stop snitchin'" --same story. Don't be blowing up the secret 45 dealers on the interweb. You can get a smack for that.
I wouldn't tell them kids that they shouldn't be wearing them. I would just stop them and ask them why, what does it mean, what does it mean to them, and them drop some knowledge. Treating a kid like a delinquent doesn't help anybody.
At my hommies high school in Tokyo, all the guys had to have their hair cut so that no hair touched their shirt collar. One day in P.E. class the instructor noticed that my friend's hair was getting a little long. The instructor pulled out a pair of clippers and told him "You get a haircut after school today or I'll cut it myself tomorrow!"
Hi Anna!
Herm
(Hmmm...new graemlin?)
Word...at the end of the day, media literacy is one of the most powerful tools we can teach young people.
True indeed. I went to a high school that required uniforms, and believe me, it didn't get kids to focus on studies more at all. It just meant they had to form cliques and gang up on each other in different ways. In other words, the uniforms didn't help at all. You ever heard catty bitches smile in each other's faces, then rip on each other's "fat cankles" once backs are turned?
co-
Yeah, I agree. A discussion did occur after class started and I asked the kids what they thought the shirts meant. One girl explained, "You know when you do something bad and your little sister tells your Mom? She needs to stop snitching" and all the kids readily agreed that the shirts were made in reference to nosy little sisters. They refused to acknowledge any criminal connection.
btw. I used to see the "I Got It For Cheap" shirt and I thought "Of course you got it for cheap, it's just a black tee" So much for my street cred.
I just don't buy this ish. For as many kids that claim that either they or others were fueled and/or influenced by this "gangsta" image, there are kids like me who love misogynistic, violent trap music, but have never sold drugs, fired a gun, or been to jail. [Worst of all, I still "love these hoes"...After all these years of listening to rap music, I still love these hoes! What the eff? How pathetic is that?]
I definitely don't have any major problem with "Stop Snitching" and "I Got it 4 Cheap" shirts being banned at schools since it's quite clear what the unstated implications of that stuff is, but music, movies, and other potentially "negative" entertainment are far[/b] from the most-important influencing factor that shape a child's life. If a kid from the 'hood has seen every male figure in his family serve time in jail, rappers rapping about selling drugs is one of the very last factors that's going to negatively influence his direction in life. If some privileged white kid (not talking about you, Guzzo) thinks its cool to go jacking people because his favorite rappers rap about it, that's a completely different dynamic.
While I don't want to argue that all the misogyny and violence in rap are completely innocuous when it comes to influencing young children's values and personal relationships, I do tend to think that people overstate the influence this music has on folks (especially, teen-agers). Again, I don't think kids should necessarily be able to wear these shirts to school, but trap music isn't what convinces these kids that "snitching" is bad and, by implication, crime just might pay--it's the relatively hopeless environment that they grow up in that's doing the convincing.
-e
This is actually kind of a cute thought. Not that I buy it though.
I don't buy that anybody found the artistic expression of South Central Cartel sufficiently affecting to be convinced to commit burglarly...
I would just like to add that I intend to keep snitching, and to continually call the cops on the dealers who sell drugs off the porch at the end my block. So far the snitching worked and they have moved to the other side of the street where there are no houses.
I see what you mean about the concern over the t-shirts, but at the same time, when I was groing up I was into shit that was going to "destroy america's children" as well.... Rap Music, Video Games, Action Movies, etc etc. And look how I turned out!
hmmm... on second thought, maybe you should take away their t-shirts.....
Ditto.
What are fat cankles?