Parental Warning labels

Parental advisory labels found on the cover of albums containing lyrics and explicit
themes were initially intended to regulate the consumption of this kind of music by minors. The
aim was to protect children from accessing such content. However, the labels have continued to
be used many years after they were first introduced. The parental warning label is not a form of
censorship but rather an advisory (Ratcliffe, 2016). Parents are advised on the kind of music that
their children should consume, but the label itself does not censor the content in the music.
Today, the labels do not even achieve much. Parents have to play the role of regulation
and oversight because the music is available over the internet. Children can easily access any
form of music regardless of whether there is a parental warning label on it or not. Parents have to
work overtime to protect their children’s innocence (Ratcliffe, 2016). The internet has made just
about everything and every form of content available to children.
Overall, I think that the parental warning labels are fair. At least, they provide an
indication to parents sowing that the music contains obscene or explicit content, not for
consumption by their children. However, as to the usefulness of these parental warning labels, I
do not find them useful at all. Artists are still able to say a lot of explicit things, and in no way
are the labels effective in ensuring that the content does not get to an untargeted audience. Thus,
the labels may be fair but no longer useful in the new age of internet usage.

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References

Ratcliffe, G. M. (2016). Parental Advisory, Explicit Content: Music Censorship and the
American Culture Wars.