Pre Select Music
Kira Flowers '21 Staff Writer
With the senior midyear over and prom approaching, concerns about music choice arise. In recent years, administrators have curtailed the freedom of students to choose the music, including requests to the DJs, in favor of a pre-selected list of approved songs.
For some students, censoring music for language alone seems unreasonable. “Many students listen to this music amongst themselves, so what is the purpose for censoring it? If it is something truly explicit, that makes people uncomfortable, then it shouldn’t be played at all,” says Junior Ayra Sangi. Keerti Venkat, also a junior, says, “There should be a preselected list, but the DJ should take requests [more often].”
For administrators, preselecting music at school dances is a matter of policy. Dr. Saunders said, “It’s a school activity. There’s a lot of popular music out there that has content in it which uses language, or has themes that don’t support the values of the school. It’s important that the music we play is consistent with who we are, and what kind of way we want to to represent ourselves.”
According to Dr. Saunders, the school also excludes censored versions of controversial songs because “students still know [the lyrics] and they still respond, particularly if it’s a song they really like.”
Some students speculated that the crackdown on music content was a response to an incident at last year’s prom, in which students used slurs singing along to a song, but this could not be confirmed by administration. “We always want to make sure the music at school events reflect school values,” said Dr. Saunders. “This includes the use of slurs. If you say something like that in class, you could be suspended, so why would that be allowed at a school event?”
For some students, censoring music for language alone seems unreasonable. “Many students listen to this music amongst themselves, so what is the purpose for censoring it? If it is something truly explicit, that makes people uncomfortable, then it shouldn’t be played at all,” says Junior Ayra Sangi. Keerti Venkat, also a junior, says, “There should be a preselected list, but the DJ should take requests [more often].”
For administrators, preselecting music at school dances is a matter of policy. Dr. Saunders said, “It’s a school activity. There’s a lot of popular music out there that has content in it which uses language, or has themes that don’t support the values of the school. It’s important that the music we play is consistent with who we are, and what kind of way we want to to represent ourselves.”
According to Dr. Saunders, the school also excludes censored versions of controversial songs because “students still know [the lyrics] and they still respond, particularly if it’s a song they really like.”
Some students speculated that the crackdown on music content was a response to an incident at last year’s prom, in which students used slurs singing along to a song, but this could not be confirmed by administration. “We always want to make sure the music at school events reflect school values,” said Dr. Saunders. “This includes the use of slurs. If you say something like that in class, you could be suspended, so why would that be allowed at a school event?”
