Dr. Frank Palumbo, from the American Academy of Pediatrics (APP), spoke to the Committee of Governmental Affairs of the U.S. saying, "Pediatricians with a specialty in adolescents are keenly aware of how crucial music is to a teen's identity and how it helps them define important social and sub-cultural boundaries." He continued to explain that teens listen to music an average of 40 hours per week. Dr. Palumbo believes that music has a great effect on people because it drives us to move, and dance; it livens our spirits and helps us feel at peace (Palumbo, 1997, p. 56-57). Music sways our moods, replaces our sadness with happiness and disappointment with excitement. These changes of attitude, while listening to music, also happen in the opposite way. It induces and adds feelings of anger, sadness, and frustration in susceptible adults as well as in youth. A professor at Brigham Young University, Darhl M. Pedersen, PH.D., stated that one of the most influential ways of learning about people is through what is known as "observational learning." Through this kind of study it is found that there is a tremendous difference between recalling an action that was positively rewarded and one that was negatively rewarded. (Pedersen, 2000, p. 181-184). There is a higher probability that youth and others will remember and follow the wrongly rewarded actions such as with gangta" rapers lyrics, where young people are positively rewarded for stealing, beating, and dealing and consuming illegal drugs, exactly the opposite of what many parents teach their children while growing up. .
Gangsta" rap manipulates the youth.
For a youth, earning respect among peers is a crucial part of life. Everyone wants to feel accepted and revered in some way. Music, with its myriad of styles, has a way of forming different groups of listeners and youth separate themselves into groups according to the kind of music they enjoy listening to.