Bill O’Reilly
Bill O’Reilly is a very controversial writer. He writes his thoughts and how he feels, and is not one to shy away from saying what’s on his mind. He gets straight to his points, and does not mess around when he is writing on a topic. That shows how serious and strongly that he feels on what he chooses to write about. O’Reilly is also very persuasive when he writes, with his main cause of persuasion being the use of facts. In one of his recent posts titled, “Beyoncé, Role Model?” O’Reilly talks about how he is disgusted and in shock that Barack and Michelle Obama would be calling singers like Beyoncé and Jay-Z role models for their children. He writes, “Barack and Michelle Obama seem very genuine in their desire to help poor children, but their pals are damaging poor children. Jay-Z degrades women and glorifies violence, while Beyoncé implicitly tells young girls to sex it up. Who has more influence? The first family? Or the first family of entertainment?”
Do you agree with O’Reilly when he says that entertainment, especially rappers and singers with their lyrics promoting drugs and crime, are damaging the youth of today?
Alex, it sounds like Bill O’Reilly is very opinionated and passionate about what he writes about. He does bring up a good point in this article, that entertainment now a days are damaging the youth in our society. In some ways I do agree with him. I think that it is dangerous for children of such young ages to be seeing all of the violence, crime and drugs in the world and it is making the kids grow up too fast and know too much at a young age. It also worries me how these people are who kids look up to, they are who kids want to be like when they are older. With these people as role models, the world may turn into a scary place. I didn’t know that Barack and Michelle Obama thought of Beyonce and Jay-Z as role models, and that is very surprising to me even though I am a big fan of their music myself! Great job Alex!
-Colleen Kelly
Bill O’Reilly sounds a lot like my columnist, Peggy Noonan. She also writes how she feels and seems confident with her opinions. For this topic, I think O’Reilly has a good argument. I agree with him that entertainment, especially rappers and singers with lyrics promoting drugs and crime, could be damaging the youth of today. However, I don’t agree that Jay-Z and Beyonce are terrible role models for children. They are responsible adults and make great contributions to many different charities. They are also raising a daughter together. Although some of their music isn’t appropriate for all ages, I think that they, as people, are great role models for children. There are a lot of celebrities that could guide children in the wrong direction, but I don’t think Jay-Z and Beyonce are causing any harm to the youth of today.
I definitely agree with O’Reilly when he says that the entertainment, like rappers and singers today is ruining the youth. Many kids listen to them and follow their behaviors. People don’t realize that when you become a singer or an actress, it doesn’t matter whether you signed up to be a role model, it comes with the job. People are going to look up to you no matter what. I also think that the behaviors of the youth today depends on the individual them self. Every person has their own mind, and can make up decisions for them self. So, even though I agree with O’Reilly, that singers and rappers take part in the damaging of the youth today, I don’t fully blame entertainers, because people can chose to look up to them.
I agree with Bill O’Reilly when he says that rappers and singers lyrics promote drugs and crime. Not all, but some. Children listening to this kind of music can easily be persuaded to do the drugs that artists often sing and rap about especially if they are their role models. I do not think that Beyonce and Jay-Z are bad role models for children. Some of their music may have swears and be a bit sexual but they are not bad role models in my defense. They are raising their own child and they are very good parents.
It sounds like Bill O’Reilly is a very good columnist and finds an interesting argument and then he puts his ides on it it and uses his persuasive skills to get you to agree to his point no matter what your opinion on the matter was before. I say this because before I read what you had to say I wouldn’t think at all that music would persuade children to be violent or do anything wrong from music that they listened to from artists like Jay-Z and Beyonce but after thinking about it if a child really likes a famous person and looks to them like a role model and in a song they say something bad or swear the children would here that and think that it’s the “cool” thing to do and they would do the same thing so the would seem cool, so I somewhat agree on what Bill O’Reilly says but I also agree with Nicole because there are a lot of songs that are good popular songs that do not have anything bad in the song.
Alex, it seems to me that O’Reilly has a very opinionated personality similar to my columnist Ann Coulter. I do agree with O’Reilly in the fact that much of rap/hip-hop music contains materials and subjects that are negative for younger age groups. Even though Beyonce and Jay-Z seem to produce violent and negative music, I still think they are extremely talented. I am shocked that Barack and Michelle Obama would call Beyonce and Jay-Z role models for their children because of all the negative media towards them. There are many other celebrities with positive music and inspiring stories that would make much better role models.
Writing about controversial topics seems to be the right way to go when it comes to columnists. While I’m not sure I agree with your columnist wholeheartedly, I will say that yes, in today’s society, the media is extremely influential on today’s youth. And yes, some artists tend to have explicit material in their songs. However I believe that music has been around for a long time, and today’s society isn’t the first to include explicit material in their music.
I believe one factor that it all depends on is the environment of the child. If a child grows up in an abusive environment, they could be containing a lot of negative feelings, and if they listen to music that highly emphasizes the use of drugs, they might think, “yes, this is exactly what will help me get through this,” and possibly try something. Meanwhile someone who grew up in a happy and healthy environment may listen to the song simply because they enjoy it and the tune, and will simply put on something else when it’s over.
As Kelly had mentioned, people can chose who they look up to. I don’t believe that the artist should be held at fault for any negative actions a child chooses to take. Artists make their content because it’s what they enjoy to do, and it’s up to the fans to interpret the music as they will. A song could hold an entirely different meaning to each individual person.
But I will agree that yes, the media is pretty influential, and that it sticks all these people who might not be fit to be role models, in the faces of the youth. Some celebrities simply don’t want children reciprocating their actions, because some never wanted to influence the future generations. It’s a lot of pressure, and to be blamed for ‘destroying the youth’ just because they produced their content, something they love to do, must be stressful.
It all depends. I don’t think it’s fair to just say that entertainment is ruining the youth, because you’ve got to take a lot of things into account and consider certain situations.
I also studied Bill O’Reilly and I agree that he is very opinionated. In several of his articles it seems like he is ranting without thinking from every point of view. I don’t agree with him in this article. While many rappers and entertainers may talk about inappropriate things, they are not the only influence that children are exposed to. If a child listens to this music, they will not automatically turn into horrible and misbehaved children. There are many other factors that influence children. If a parent is setting a good example and teaching their kids to have the right values, then rap music and inappropriate forms of entertainment will not damage today’s youth.
I also studied Bill O’Reilly. He is a good writer and is not afraid to say what he thinks, as you have already said. However, he can also be very bias, especially towards political leaders, particularly Obama. He appears to have a strong disliking towards Obama and how he runs our country.
With that in mind, I must agree with him on this particular topic. Musicians today, most notably rappers, are saying to children who listen to them, “Drugs are good and fun and make you feel good!” Those who listen to thee songs at an older age are more well-educated in the effects of drugs and alcohol, so they would be less likely to take a rapper’s advice. However, children listening to this grow up thinking drugs and alcohol are what make you cool, what make you a man, or what make you popular. These people should not be considered role models for the children of this generation.
Bill O’Reilly makes an excellent point here. However, I believe he is just using this as an excuse to ridicule Obama again. A lot of parents today let their children listen to Jay-Z and those other “artists,” yet he specifically mentions Obama rather the millions of other parents. While he makes an excellent point, he could not let his distaste for Obama stay out of his argument.
Alex, you were definitely right when you said that Bill O’Reilly does not shy away from saying what’s on his mind. For example, calling out the president of our country and his wife about who they consider role models for their children isn’t easy to do. I do agree with O’Reilly that our youth is being damaged from all of these rappers and singers who promote drugs and crime through their lyrics to a point. Almost all rap songs include lyrics on drugs and crime. Rap is very popular with kids today. I believe it is much more damaging to the younger kids who are growing up listening to these songs than older kids who should know better. Kids really don’t need to be hearing about these things, especially from their role models. All kids look up to people with fame and money and that is what rappers/singers have. They all want to be like them. Therefore, if they are listening to songs about drugs and crime, they may think those things are okay because their role models think they are okay. However, kids who have guidance in their life most likely will learn that crime and drugs are not okay and that they aren’t tolerated. Therefore, when they hear songs about drugs and crime, it stays just a song to them and nothing more. That is why I agree with O’Reilly to a point.
Yes, I agree that mainstream entertainment, including rappers and singers are damaging today’s youths by glorifying drugs and crime, and I’m actually surprised to find Bill O’Reilly making a good point for once. However, mainstream music and entertainment is just a reflection of our society, and even if rappers and singers weren’t degrading youth by exposing them to the glorification of drugs and violence and the subjugation of women, even without them, children would be exposed to these things anyway. These kind of things are everywhere: on the covers of magazines, on TV, in the movies. The real problem here is our society, not that the President and his wife like Beyonce and Jay-Z. However, instead of making this point in his writing and pointing out the real flaw in our society that we should try to fix, Bill O’Reilly has decided to lay the blame on artists like Beyonce and Jay-Z. I feel like he might have a greater motivation behind this: the fact that both of them are successful black people, that Beyonce is a successful woman and that many of her songs have a message of “girl power”. As a deeply conservative Republican, these are all things Bill O’Reilly wouldn’t like and I’m not surprised that he would try to use Beyonce and Jay-Z as a model of what’s wrong with our society.
Mr. O’Reilly brings up a very valid point in regards to singers and rappers damaging the youth of today. I agree with him in a way, but I feel that everyone has their own choice, including what music they listen to. This music may or may not have an influence on them, depending on what kind of person they are. For example, I have listened to Jay-Z’s music many times, yet I have not changed as a person due to my listening. This is not the same case for everyone, though. Many people will take music as a strong influence and let the music change them. In regards to Jay-Z and Beyoncé not being good role models, I disagree because many people do look up to them. They are looked up to as successful individuals. I also feel that they are not damaging any youth because they do not choose who listens to their music. Bill O’Reilly seems to be a great writer, and very persuasive as you noted. Thanks for sharing!