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AIBU?

8 yo DD LOVES Ed Sheeran 'A Team' song - inappropriate?

11 replies

cureall · 13/10/2011 12:58

DD has heard this at her BFs house (and watched the video on youtube which I'm not thrilled about). It's a song with a beautiful melody, very haunting, and she and 6 yo DD2 wanted me to download the song and print off the lyrics (good for their reading, right?) so they can learn them. Thing is the song is all about prostitution, homelessness, drug use...
I don't know whether to watch the video with my daughter and answer any questions she has or keep her from watching it as at present (I said it wasn't appropriate for her sister). Her BF has told her it's about a girl who has sex with a man for £40 then has sex with another man. I played it cool, thinking "how on earth do I talk about this with her?", just saying 'Did she now. Hmm.' And carried on with the dinner. She'll obviously watch it next time she's at BF's house (or something else I can't control - BF has teenage sisters so expect her parents are more relaxed than me).
I'd love to find another song they love more so they can move away from this one as I think DD1 and DD2 are a bit young to be told about prostitution and the dangers of crack cocaine.
Anyone in the same boat???

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tomme · 13/10/2011 13:04

My dd 7 loves it and knows all the words, I think it is totally inappropriate but it's on local radio all the time. She however, has never seen any music videos, you tube clips etc because they really are inappropriate on the whole and I don't want the questions that would come from constantly turning off the inappropraite videos as they come on.

I wouldn't know how to answer the questions myself and am just waiting for the song to get less airtime and dd to move onto something else.

There is is general though an acceptance of songs being played on radio which have completely inapprorpiate lyrics for children and no one raises an eyebrow anymore, Rhianna's song with the S&M lyrics being another that immediately springs to mind, perhaps steps reuniting isn't such a bad thing, need to start a campaign for SClub 7 to reform as well Wink

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cureall · 13/10/2011 13:10

Yup wouldn't that be great. I bought her a Katy Perry album not realizing it had lyrics 'I want to see your Pea cock -cock -cock, your Peacock' in a song. Aarrgh it's going to go round in my head now. Weird to hear 6 yo singing it. But even that Alexandra Burke song - don't make me start without you - seems inappropriate, or do I have a dirty mind!

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cureall · 13/10/2011 13:14

BTW I know that Alexandra Burke lyric means nothing to them so I try not to worry about it. It's the explicitness of the video for A team that gets me - the bit where she's smoking the crack pipe (I think!) and prossie in bed scene is a bit much. Maybe I should ask her BFs mum not to let them go on youtube at her house but then I feel a bit of a stick in the mud... I don't know what to do for the best. Do I protect her as long as I can and do my best to shield her from stuff? Do I then risk her feeling she can't talk to me about this sort of thing?

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squeakytoy · 13/10/2011 13:20

I think at that age, they dont need an explanation of the lyrics, they just like songs that have catchy tunes.

The videos are a different matter though.. its certainly not like the good old days of Top of the Pops when videos were suitable for almost any age group.

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tomme · 13/10/2011 13:28

I wouldn't be concerned about being a stick in the mud to be honest and would ask that they don't look at vidoes on you tube.

They are still so young and whilst being honest in terms of answering any natural questions they may have is one thing, exposing them to such grown up images, that lets be fair not many adults can relate to, is another thing all together and those questions are very hard to answer in a way children understand.

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paulapantsdown · 13/10/2011 13:29

My DS7 loves Ed Sheeran, and is generally music mad. He plays music all the time, and his xmas santa list so far consists of ONLY cd's. He has a really good ear for good voices (Adele, Ed Sheeran, Example, Ce-Loo Green etc etc).

He wants to spend all his spare time watching the videos of his favourites on You Tube and learning the lyrics, but he also wants to watch MTV etc. About 99% of videos are fine, but I really worry about some of them. I think the imagery goes over his head (that Rhianna is dirty bird isn't she?) mostly, but I have grabbed the remote and turned over a few times.

Its a shame because he really really loves music.

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tomme · 13/10/2011 13:32

I think there is a need for a music channel that plays the songs but with some sort of banal generic videos in the background or something like one of the dance games where there are just dances being done in the video that the kids can copy.

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BettySwollocksandaCrustyRack · 13/10/2011 13:32

My DS (9) loves Plan B and the language he uses is shocking. Still DS knows they are naughty words, and would never repeat them so I dont really worry about it.

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cureall · 13/10/2011 13:34

Yes I've let DD1 watch the Saturdays etc on Youtube as they're fairly harmless but she's quite headstrong and I need to be vigilant about what she pulls up when she thinks I'm not looking!

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MrsMooo · 13/10/2011 13:35

I love the song personally and have bought the single BUT It's completely inappropriate for children of that age - it's about a crack adicted whore... I don't think not bringing it up again will make you DD think she can't talk to you about it, and I'd stick to the it's not appropriate tack

I would be very clear with BF's mum that they should not be having unrestricted unsupervised access to youtube, am bit Confused at them being free to look at whatever/having no parental supervision of net access just because there are older siblings.

I don't think that's being a stick in the mud at all, but then maybe I'm being unrealistic as I don't have DC of that age

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TheRealMrsHannigan · 13/10/2011 13:35

It's definitely inappropriate for a 6 year old and tbh youtube is a minefield of dodgy videos, not something i'd let any young teen or pre-teen loose on anyway.

I personally love the song and think Ed Sheeran is extremely talented, but I'd be hesitant to let young DC's listen/watch the videos.

For older, more mature children I'd say it's a very good song, learning about the dangers of drugs and their link to prostitution is a valuable lesson imo, just not for 6 -12 year olds.

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