"Reggaeton is an educational opportunity" 16-05-2019
By: César A. Fernández
I heard this phrase in the workshop we had at @praxisdom last weekend with our guest speaker Ezequiel López Peralta, and I loved it!
Many parents tire their children with tedious speeches about how terrible reggaeton is. They endlessly repeat phrases like: "that music is useless", "I don't understand how you can listen to such nonsense". And sometimes they even forbid their children to listen to this or that song or artist, because "it is vulgar" or "a bad example".
Prohibiting your child from listening to an artist (who he/she will surely listen to at school or at home from a friendship anyway) does not contribute much to your child's developmental process.
Let's use those lyrics to sit down and talk to our kids. Listen to what they say, that they explain to you what the phrases you do not know about youth jargon mean, and that you explain to them what you think about how the song they are listening to presents sex, violence, the treatment of women, the relationship with money and drugs, or any other topic of interest that is played in the song.
May “Felices los cuatro ” (Happy The Four) become a chance to talk about healthy relationship models and responsible sexuality. May “Me gustan los mayores” (I like older guys) and “Sin Pijama” (without pajamas) be the beginning of a conversation about values, social standards, untimely pregnancies and substance use.
We didn't achieve much by forbidding. But by talking, we educate and create healthy relationships.
