Question

Children at a certain age love to indulge in music. I as a meditator have more and more problems with music. Can you give some advice for parents as to how to deal with that?

Answer

It is interesting, you know, sometimes I read about people who have been brought up by religious people who restricted their children watching movies or listening to music, etc., and when they grew up they became actresses and musicians and all that. Often what parents may withdraw from children, they seek out. So I would not restrict children's music. If you have problems with that, perhaps you can have a music room or give them headphones, I don't think it is right to put on children some of the ideal that we have, because that restriction may actually encourage them to do it more. It is just a matter of being careful what type of music they are listening to, making sure the lyrics aren't vile and depressive and these types of things. Perhaps you can encourage a love of music where there are not many lyrics, a calming or relaxing type of music. Not that when I was a child my parents could influence me much with my type of music. Especially when we get to be teenagers we just want to be in with the crowd, don't we? Giving them a balance may be very helpful, in the sense that music is not restricted usually for lay people.

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