Negative music influences the behavior of our youth to an extent nobody really knows. The reason for this is that each one of our youth is different. Our youth reacts to negative music different than another, as some of our youth don't even have a negative reaction. What I have observed being around youth, I'm surrounded by negative music and the bad language lyrics. It is our youth thinking its okay using negative language and that it's okay to disrespect anybody with that type of language and that it's the in thing to do. Our youth seem not to care and along with the bad language comes a bad attitude with it. For example, when we tell the youth to lower their music, as not everybody else wants to hear all that bad language. The youth just reply with a, I don't care and a real bad attitude to go with it. The music I'm referring to is rap music, as rap music is so bad. All you hear about when we listen to rap is about violence, sex, drugs, and shootings. Some of the songs are also about abuse, rape and how cool it is to belong to a gang. The kind of music has gotten a hold of a lot of our youth. I truly believe the youth that have trouble fitting among their peers are the ones that take music to heart and think whatever the rapper is saying to do is a way to fit in some where in this crazy would of ours. For example, what goes on in our high schools and on our school campuses during lunch? We can see groups separated by race where-ever we look. The same way gangs are and where do these young adults hear about racism and gangs through rap music? I know for fact music is a big part of a gang's life, as they take the lyrics of music to heart. For example, I have a friend who belonged to a gang back in the 60's. He said " music back them helped him mole into a cholo". He heard music that talked about the riders and what they were all about. How they carried themselves, how they dressed and what they drove and what kind of music they were into. Even down to the way they talked and how they acted. The music he said " was a big part of him joining a gang". He says " if he had a chance to go back in time. He wouldn't let music influence him along with his peers". Listening to what my friend said, I could see the way music could be like a drug, we could get addicted to it. A lot of our youth want to be like the person that the rapper is talking about, as it's a way of trying to fit it. Looking at our troubled youth today stealing and drive by shootings. The kind of things our youth could listen about in some of the music they listen to.