Music and Why It’s Important to Teens

As I write this I’m listening to Aurora by the Foo Fighters, and as you walk down the halls or streets you could be listening to Frank Ocean or Taylor Swift. Music is all around us and most listen to it, but do we understand how big of an impact it takes on teens? 

Especially for teenagers, music can contribute to the formation of one’s identity. No matter what genre, it brings us together. It covers up silence in a room and creates bonds like a choir group, musical theater, or just even sharing certain music interests in general. Being a teenager, I’m around many other teenagers. I notice the different ways we all connect to people, and one of those things is music. Some even make a playlist for each other, give music suggestions, etc. When asked about how music makes people bond, ninth grader Nadia Dunson explains “If I say that I like a certain artist and someone else says they like a certain artist I think that we can bond and make a new friendship through that.” I can’t even count the amount of times I’ve gotten a text that says “listen to this song” or “listen to this album” but no matter how much I get told by my peers I never get annoyed. It just shows how much they care about my interests or want me to care about theirs. Like with concerts, the whole purpose of them is to be surrounded with people who are there for the same reasons, wanting to be entertained and feel secure by the environment of the live performance from their favorites.

Music has such an impact on teens, it’s even a form of therapy. Professional music therapists have a guide to finding music treatments for people with disabilities, illnesses, and more. Most patients find music to change their well being. If there aren’t people to reach out for them, music can. Ninth grader Ana Joehnk says music has done so much for her: “it helped me get through really hard years of my life, kept me going on, gave me things to look forward to, songs to relate to, it really just helped me not give up.” 

 The most common issues teens face today are the lack of having good friends, role models, and the increase of anxiety or depression. Ninth grader Nick Jenkins talks about how music “calms him down” and how it can make things that are irritating fade away. Because of artists who can or have related to those problems that even expand from such, they write music for themselves and people to reflect their human emotions onto that. Some of these could include the rising artists The Weeknd, Harry Styles, SZA, etc. They and many others write music for themselves and people to reflect their human emotions onto that. Although those very emotions don’t have to be sad, researchers have proven music is connected to a dopamine release which gives us an immediate reaction to being pleased when listening to music that brings us joy. It comforts every mood depending on what you are listening to. 

Music is much more than popping an airpod in to drown out the sound of your teacher talking. Music expands into many different things and scenarios. You can use it to make friends, relax, or help plan for your future with such jobs like being an artist, music producer, or even music journalism.