Down with Barney!!

What is the deal with kid’s music? I don't want to sound an extremely judgmental tone here, but… I guess I will. I think most of it is pretty worthless. I am not trying to alienate myself from a whole myriad of parents who currently own "Barney's Funzone - Volumes 1-10" and currently are playing it in the family minivan, but I just want to ask the question, what would it be like if we exposed our kids to higher art forms, especially music, from the womb on out? Do we somehow think that our kids can't handle these things? Why should we dumb down their artistic tastes?

Is this child abuse? Perhaps, but all I know is that when I play Switchfoot, Coldplay, John Mayer, Willy Porter, Keith Jarret, or Miles Davis in the van, my three year old consistently says, "Dad, I want it loud!", and then he pretends to play his guitar or drums for the duration of the song.

What about spiritual content? I am all for my kids being exposed to great theology in the form of song. I would just much rather have their infusion of great thoughts of God come in a much better package than "Kiddie Praise". Again, my experience tells me that his ability to recite the lyrics from a Chris Tomlin CD is just at keen and he seems to like it just at much as anything that he sees on "Sesame Street".

It's not that my 3-year-old son has never been exposed to music that is more marketed towards children his age; he gets it everyday on the kid's TV programming that we allow him to watch. I would submit that our kids are going to get enough material infused into their brains that is targeted for their age from all the different technological mediums that are out there, why not expose them to forms that have a bit more substance?

All this to say, opinions about music are subjective for sure, but there is a reason that Miles Davis’ “Kind of Blue” has been around for over 50 years now and will probably still be in circulation in another 50 years. I think it would be a fair assumption to conclude that the same can’t be said of, “Barney Sings the Blues”.

Maybe I am just too much of a purist in terms of music and the thought of a Barney CD playing in our family van is about enough to force me to put a gun to my head. Maybe I am an abusive father for not bending to the cultural norms of music for most kids. Or, maybe we could be sowing the seeds of appreciation for art that is much more enduring than the latest song on "The Wiggles".

Could it be that exposure to more long—term artistic forms could be indirectly fostering a future career or at least a fine appreciation that will provide years of joy in listening and appreciation of God’s glory through his creative creatures? Maybe not, but I think it’s worth the effort on my part as a parent.

Would love your thoughts on this issue.