The streaming service Cliq attracts customers with a wide range of multimedia offerings for films, series, sport, music, audio books and games. One app, all in one, so to speak. The service also aims to be the cheapest provider in Germany. We explain what’s behind it.
Cliq is a streaming service with a diverse selection: numerous German and international films, often rather older, but also blockbusters, slightly fewer series with documentary and history series, sports broadcasts, music with video, but without your own playlists, various cloud games and some audio books, albeit without a timer function. Cliq offers practical functions such as download options, parental controls and simultaneous streaming on several devices without advertising for games and audio books. In contrast to the competition, there is only one subscription model with which all multimedia areas can be accessed. There is also a rental model; the subscription includes one rental film per month.
Cliq addresses the needs of children and young people at different stages of their lives by offering age-appropriate content. Under “Kids” there is an area for children with a manageable selection of older entertainment media: from children’s films to animated series, music stations to romp around or fall asleep to games. The “Kids” service is aimed at children under the age of 12, which is why all films, series and games there have an appropriate age rating. Most videos are labeled with the statutory age ratings of the FSK (Voluntary Self-Regulation of the Film Industry), i.e. FSK 0 or FSK 6.
Much of the content on the streaming service is not suitable for children and young people and can be frightening or problematic. Parents should protect their profile with a PIN and set up a special children’s profile. In the children’s profile, films and series are marked with the corresponding official age ratings. However, nothing can be filtered so that all content up to the age of 12 is always visible and therefore clickable for children. Music, audio books and games have no visible age rating or recommendation on Cliq. Unfortunately, it is not always possible to tell from the covers what age it might or might not be suitable for.
For many games, it is absolutely incomprehensible why they can be found in the children’s area at all. Games with an official age rating of 16 or 18 (such as USK 18 or PEGI 18) can be found there without any indication. This gives parents a false sense of security. Children should never play there unsupervised.
From the age of 13, young people at Cliq are assigned to the adult area. There, they are confronted with all available content completely unprotected – including content that is not suitable for their age. There are no age ratings and no corresponding recommendations or filter functions.
The youth protection laws in Germany require that all content (games/films) have an appropriate age rating and a corresponding protective measure – neither of which Cliq currently fulfills.
The appeal of spending a lot of time on a streaming service is very high. Here, personal responsibility is required to limit one’s own viewing time . What is already difficult for some adults is even more difficult to control for children and even teenagers.
The provider emphasizes the importance of data protection and security and provides parents with tools to monitor and restrict usage. Parents can protect their profile with a PIN and set up a special children’s profile.
Use the child profile and protect it with a secure PIN (no dates of birth or simple sequences such as 1234) so that your child cannot switch between profiles. However, be sure to check the age ratings of films, series and games yourself. Accompany your child when using media. Be approachable when questions or fears arise. And watch your child when they are watching videos or playing games. Keep an eye on how much time your child spends on the streaming service. Binge-watching can also occur in children and young people, for example.
Select content together and define media rules together with your child. And keep yourself regularly informed about current functions and parental control settings.
In our video series “You ask – we answer,” our media educator Melanie Endler explains why you shouldn’t leave children alone when watching series:
The tigerbox TOUCH wants to offer “unlimited streaming variety” – that’s what the provider’s website says. Like other Audio boxes It is also a modern and popular alternative to cassette recorders and CD players.
The best way to describe the tigerbox TOUCH is as a square Bluetooth listening box with a bamboo casing that is supposed to provide particularly good sound. The large buttons and simple touch display of the tigerbox TOUCH make it child’s play to operate. There is also a light bar that responds to music and sound and a night light. If not everyone is supposed to listen in, headphones can also be connected.
In order for your child to listen to something from the multitude of songs and stories, there are two ways: paid access to the tigertones media library via app or the use of individual cards. Depending on your subscription, the tigertones app gives you access to more than 15,000 titles such as radio plays and children’s songs. After downloading the app and connecting the tigerbox TOUCH to your smartphone or tablet via Bluetooth, your child can listen to stories from popular characters such as Benjamin Blümchen or the Olchis within a range of up to 10 meters. Alternatively, you can buy individual tigercards that play audio games or music after being plugged into the box. The wildcards allow playing self-recorded voice messages or mp3 files. The whole thing also works offline if you download individual audio plays in the app or by playing content via a card with the box.
The simple and practical operation of the box with the cards or via the touch display as well as the large selection of audio material suitable for children makes the tigerbox TOUCH interesting for children. Individual profiles with age information and favorite characters enable age-appropriate use of the box. You can set functions such as the parental lock, sleep timer or maximum usage time via the parent area. This way you can control what your child hears and when. Playing the wildcards yourself invites you to record creative audio stories with your own child.
For the purchase of a tigerbox TOUCH you currently pay about 100,00 €, which is comparable to other listening boxes for children.
The tigerbox TOUCH is described as “The smart audio system for the kids’ room and on the go”. According to the manufacturer Tiger Media Deutschland, the difference to conventional Bluetooth speakers is that the tigerbox TOUCH was developed by experts in children’s media with children’s needs in mind. In addition to the ease of use, the carrying strap as well as the bamboo case guarantees the sturdiness of the box (also for traveling). Content is also provided via the ad-free and child-safe app tigertones.
The tigerbox TOUCH is especially exciting for older children with the wide selection of titles. Use the parents’ area and make sure that your child can only access content that is approved for his or her age. Note that for the premium account of the tigertones app– i.e. full access to all content – you need to sign up for a paid subscription starting at 6.99€ per month. With the operation via the cards, even younger children can enjoy childlike listening pleasure. The tigercards and wildcards are available from 5,99€ per piece. Stiftung Warentest has tested various listening boxes and points out that the playback volume is often too high for children, especially in conjunction with headphones. Use decibel-limited headphones or do without headphones and explain to your child how to turn down the listening box. How about getting creative together with your child, and record your own audio stories? Then playing via the device is twice as fun.
Many children make their first media experiences through audio media – whether audio books before bedtime, music in the nursery or children’s radio during the car ride. The selection is huge and the playback devices have long since gone beyond cassette recorders and CD players. People are increasingly listening via mobile devices, voice assistants and listening boxes.
Audio media offer many advantages, especially for young children. They can be used as a sideline medium for playing and painting, but can also be used for relaxation. In addition, turning on the children’s program at a fixed time can be a nice ritual that gives your child security and routine.
Traditional radio has evolved its distribution channels and offers a range of content suitable for children. There are special children’s radio stations and also radio stations with children’s programming that can be used both via conventional channels and via the associated website (livestream via web radio) or via app.
Regular podcasts and themed specials from children’s radio stations have the advantage that they pick up on current events and phenomena and explain them in a way that is suitable for children. The child’s perspective is taken into account and content that concerns and interests your child is discussed. Auch die Möglichkeit zum Mitmachen und des Meinungsaustausches in Form von Höreranrufen ist bei einigen Radiosendern für Kinder gegeben, wie bei Kakadu oder Radio TEDDY.
So next time you’re driving, turn on the children’s radio station or listen to a streaming children’s podcast while you’re doing housework together. We adults often learn something in the process 🙂
Other recommended radio programs for children:
A “treasure chest for audio play experiences” – that’s how the provider itself describes its Toniebox. As a contemporary alternative to cassette recorders and CD players, listening boxes can already be found in many children’s rooms. Why is the colorful box so popular and how exactly does it actually work?
Square, practical and easy to use – that’s how you can describe the Toniebox. This is a monochrome cube that can be used to play audio books by simply placing various figures on it. The play figures, called Tonies, are available in two versions. The Tonies in the design of well-known children’s characters can be used immediately. Countless contents can be played via them. The Kreativ-Tonie, in turn, can be recorded with your own recordings via an app.
The padded cube can be easily operated by children themselves: A chapter can be jumped forward by a slap on the left side. Fast forward and rewind by tilting the box slightly. On each box there are also two rubber ears, through which the volume is adjusted.
Before the Toniebox can be used for the first time, you have to set it up. A WLAN connection is required for this. You also need a smartphone, tablet or PC. To set up the box, you create a free customer account in the Toniecloud. Once the Toniebox is set up, you can put the character on the box and play it.
The Toniebox impresses above all with its simple design and easy operation, making it easy for children to use on their own. In addition, many different characters are available for both the general Tonies and the Creative Tonies: Benjamin Blümchen, The Mouse, Knight or Rockstar – depending on the child’s preference. The range of different stories and content available for the Toniebox also impresses many parents. Once the audio stories are fully loaded in the cloud, they can be listened to anywhere even without WLAN.
According to the company, the Toniebox is made of high-quality and robust material, which is why children can use it without any problems. But the box should also be easy for parents to operate: For example, the maximum volume can also be controlled via the Toniecloud. The Toniebox is suitable for children from the age of three.
If you use the option of a creative Tonie, your own sound recordings are stored in the Toniecloud. However, these can also be deleted again. When closing the entire Toniecloud customer account, all uploaded data is also deleted.
The cost factor of the Toniebox is not entirely insignificant: the starter set with one creative Tonie currently costs €79.95, and each additional Tonie (€14.99) or creative Tonie (€11.99) must be purchased separately. However, compared to the hörbert listening box, it is a cheaper alternative.
The creative tonies offer a lot of space for creativity. Why not record a story or song together with your child? Very creative people can also produce their own radio play and listen to it together later. As parents, you should always keep in mind that it is the shared media experience that counts and that you should especially accompany young children in their first media-related steps.
CDs, Cassettes and MP3 players have long been out of fashion. Today, people listen to music online with their smartphones, via digital music services such as
Spotify
– one of the largest
streaming providers
.
Spotify is by far the best-known and largest music streaming service. If you use it with a free account, you can only listen to music with an Internet connection and advertisements are played regularly between songs. With the paid premium version, the songs can also be listened to offline and without commercial interruptions. In addition, with the also chargeable Family Premium Version different accounts are managed. In the premium variants, parental control settings are also available. This means that songs, podcasts and radio plays with “explicit” content – i.e. content unsuitable for children and young people – can be excluded.
With
Spotify
currently provides access to around 82 million titles. Included are music, radio plays, audio books and Podcasts. In addition, there are numerous playlists – created and published by users – on various genres and topics. You can also create your own playlists and follow other users.
For music offers
Spotify
with the function
Behind The Lyrics
function provides background information about the song and displays the lyrics for many tracks.
Spotify
uses a kind of own
QR code
. With this
Spotify Code
users can share their favorite songs.
Music is very important for young people: they identify with the artists, talk about them with their friends and can also express themselves emotionally with their favorite songs. With
Spotify
young people have the big music world in their pocket, can browse music collections of others and access content almost limitlessly and everywhere.
On the
Playstation
,
X-Box
,
Alexa Echo and Google Home
Spotify is supported, so teens can gamble and listen to music at the same time or use their voice assistant to play music.
Younger children will be interested in the large selection of radio plays. Almost all popular children’s audio drama series – from Bibi Blocksberg and Benjamin Blümchen to “The Three ???” – are available on Spotify available. Read more in our article about Child-friendly audio content on Spotify
Spotify
has a
sophisticated algorithm
, which highly personalizes the suggestions for music, audiobooks and advertising. At
Button profile
created
Spotify
from the last listened music and the usage data individual playlists, for example
Your mix of the week
. However, this is also associated with the storage of usage behavior. Take a look at the privacy policy, access rights and other conditions together with your child before agreeing to registration and installation!
It is difficult for children and teenagers to use the free version, as the music content can only be streamed. This costs data volume if you cannot access a WLAN. If your child does not have a data flat rate, this can quickly become expensive.
At
Spotify
there is also music or audio books with content that is not suitable for children. However, these are marked and can be filtered out. Most recently
Spotify
is coming under increasing criticism for doing too little to combat the spread of
fake news
and
conspiracy myths
to undertake on the platform. Among other things, the service distributes a multi-million dollar U.S. podcast that conveyed misinformation about Corona vaccinations. The streaming service meanwhile goes against Corona fake news and marks contributions to Covid-19 with a note and the link to further information.
Officially, the minimum age of
Spotify
16 years. Problematic content can only be filtered in the paid premium accounts by adjusting the parental control settings. Your child will then have no way of accessing “explicit” content with swear words or other inappropriate terms, or coming across it by accident.
As parents, you should discuss in detail with your child in advance whether it makes sense to use the offer. This also includes the privacy policy and the discussion on advertising. Consider whether a joint
Family Premium Account
makes sense if several people in your family use the offer.
Especially with podcasts, caution is advised when it comes to false reports. Encourage your child to use information critically and educate him or her about Fake News on. Show your child how to
conspiracy myths
and how it can verify the truth of sources.
Internet platforms such as YouTube and TikTok offer children and young people a wide range of different music videos. This offers choice and participation in music from around the world. However, music videos can trigger misconceptions of role models among children and adolescents. So what do you need to pay attention to?
In the 1970s, music videos were mainly used for promotional purposes and produced to introduce the singers performing the song. One of the first music videos was the promotion video for Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen from 1975. Today’s music videos not only show images that match the music. Many different stories are told in the clips. This can be about fashion, love, trends, cultural or socio-political topics. From rap, pop, funk, classical music or techno, everything is there. Through music videos, stories are conveyed in a variety of ways. Some music videos are shot with people who appear in the clips. Other videos are produced with computer technology and the characters are animated. There are also abstract clips in which no people are shown at all.
Listening to music is one of the three most important and most frequently used media activities among children and young people. Youtube offers a wide selection of music and videos for this purpose. In the JIM study published in 2019, 63 percent of children and young people aged 12 to 19 say that YouTube is the most popular Internet service. The study also revealed that children and young people mainly stream music videos on the platform. Music videos can be the gateway to another world where children and young people have a wide choice of stories and representations of their favorite songs.
Children and young people often don’t notice how differently men and women are portrayed in different music videos. It is often the case that women are reduced to their bodies -their bodies become and in many settings you can’t even see the face. Men are shown in strong positions of power, especially in rap and hip-hop, and are portrayed as cool or aggressive. Children and young people do not consciously perceive this stereotypical representation of men and women in music videos. As a result, it can happen that it is perceived as normality and young people strive to become like their role models in the music videos and internalize these clichés.
Take a closer look, too. Pay attention to the song lyrics and question what the music video is expressing. Talk to your child about music videos and ask what it likes about the clips. Have your child tell you what music they like to listen to and why. Talk about how music videos are a form of storytelling and talk to your kids about the possible stereotypes in music videos. Keep an open mind about your child’s music interests. Share with your child and do not ban music videos, because this often does not bring success and is also critical from an educational point of view. At the same time, especially for younger children, if music videos are the topic, you can check the parental control settings on the streaming portals and adjust them if necessary.
We explained that music is important and beautiful for children in our article Accompanying children’s songs with apps.
In addition to apps, there are also some websites and YouTube channels that support listening, making and discovering music together as a family. If you don’t know how to play an instrument yourself or don’t think you are musical, this is a great way to introduce music to your child.
On the channel Children’s Songs with Bobby there are music videos with the llama Bobby. The colorful music videos designed as cartoons feature newly recorded children’s songs. They are also available on their own website kinderlieder-mit-bobby.de – sorted by categories like Christmas songs, music mix or lullabies.
The Children’s Songs to Sing and Move Along channel delivers just that: familiar and new children’s songs that show children and adults singing and dancing and encourage them to join in. The selection on this channel is huge and there are different playlists and categories under which the songs can be found.
Children’s songs on YouTube are mainly for younger children. If you are looking for and playing children’s songs this way, it is best to use the YouTube Kids app. Then you and your child won’t see any ads before and during the video, and it will be easier for you to find suitable video offers for children.
In the sound box of the WDR you can explore the big world around music. The site is designed as a web app, so it also works very well via smartphone. There are rhythm and sound games, concert videos and much more. The sound box is something for older children, who can learn and try out a lot about music here. There is even more music for all age groups to discover at Kiraka: Here you can find videos on current chart music, interviews with interesting female musicians as well as info clips on Beethoven and others.
Africa Junior offers insights into the musical worlds of distant countries. You can listen to popular children’s songs from different regions of Africa, watch video clips and there is a quiz on African music.
The very simply designed website Surakinder offers a musical and picture-rich world of experience for children. Select a field and dive in together with your child. With beautiful music, there are dancing flowers, fairy tale characters and much more to discover.
On the site of Junge Klassik you can learn a lot about instruments and classical music. The site is quite colorful and playful design. Even adults can discover new things here! There’s even more at Trompis Tondschungel, where kids can go on a musical expedition.
Operas are more for adults, aren’t they? With the Opera Maker app, children can discover the world of opera and tell their own stories about it. The website shows what this can look like.
There is also a lot to learn about music at the Children’s Radio College. Open your ears and go! This can even help in music lessons at school. And if you don’t feel like clicking, why not watch an episode of hr2-Lauschinsel together?
Spotify Kids is an offer from the streaming provider Spotify, through which selected music, radio plays or podcasts are accessible for children and parents are provided with corresponding setting options.
A dedicated editorial team selects the child-friendly audio content for Spotify Kids, so that only Spotify content that is suitable for children and young people is available. There are songs by musicians popular with children, movie music and many compiled playlists. In addition, radio plays such as Benjamin Blümchen or podcasts such as the “Sendung mit der Maus” can be listened to online and offline.
An interface designed especially for children with large images is intended to appeal to young users and make it easier for them to use it independently with simple operation.
Parents can choose between five different profiles and associated content. There are setting options for younger (0 – 6 years) and for older children (5 – 12 years).
The offer is part of Spotify Premium Family, which allows multiple people to use the Premium service at the same time without commercial interruptions. Each family member gets their own account.
Children love to listen to stories and music. As a parent, you may not always have the time to read to your child or turn on certain songs. For such situations, it is helpful if children can choose and save audio content themselves. Being able to choose media content independently is a great experience for many children and contributes to self-determined media use – but it should always be accompanied by you.
With similar services, such as YouTube Kids, it was observed that, despite a pre-selection, problematic content and content not suitable for children could also be seen time and again. Whether this is also the case with Spotify Kids is still difficult to assess, because the offer has only been available since May 2020. However, it is important to take a critical look at the audio content your child is using, despite the pre-selection. Users complain that the offer is not sufficient and parents should be given the option to add Spotify tracks themselves.
Spotify stores the usage behavior of its customers in order to optimize the product. Privacy issues should always be considered when selecting and installing a suitable streaming service.
When using Spotify Family Premium, parents can set which content children can and cannot listen to. The audio content selected by the children is visible to the parents for up to three months. You can then decide which songs, radio plays, and podcasts you’d rather take out of the app.
Offers such as Spotify Kids can tempt children to be left alone with their media use. However, a selection of child-friendly content is always subjective and may not correspond to what you want for your child. Therefore, you should look at the offer together with your child beforehand and talk about it.
The older your child is, the more you can let them make the choice on their own. The function of being able to watch the selected music afterwards gives you the possibility to keep an overview of the child’s media usage. However, it can also make your child feel controlled by you. Therefore, it is better to ask your son or daughter directly what they listen to and like. It is also a great experience to listen to music or stories together.
Here are the instructions on how to set up Spotify Kids.
Children get excited about music at an early age, and many of the little ones love to dance and sing. In most daycare centers, singing together is part of everyday life, because music plays a major role in a child’s development. It stimulates the brain, enhances perception and can influence emotions. But not every family makes music. Parents often think they are not musical or lack instruments. In doing so, tablet or smartphone makes it easy for you to accompany your child while singing nursery rhymes.
The easiest way is to use nursery rhyme apps to sing along with your child and move to the music. Figures, animals and other things can also be discovered together in the apps. Well-known songs are told as a story with moving images and the lyrics are faded in for sing-along. In some apps, the recorded singing can be turned off so that only you and your child sing along to the melody.
The free version of the Sing mit mir – Kinderlieder app (for Android and iOS) offers a small selection of well-known German songs. There is a child mode. Adults can make a selection of songs and set a time limit for using the app. Various subscription models give access to all songs (premium content) in the app.
Beautifully done is the paid app Kleiner Fuchs Kinderlieder (3,- to 5,- €, for Android and iOS). In this app for children from 2 to 6 years, you can also record your own songs and make your own music.
There are a number of apps that can replace musical instruments. If you’re just a parent practicing a little, you can accompany your child as they sing, or you can make music together using your tablet or smartphone. This is a special experience that will make the relationship between you and your child even closer. The advantage of such apps is that you can set the pace yourself and your child will experience how you create a song together.
Apps like GarageBand (iOS only; pre-installed on Apple devices) are suitable for this, allowing you to play simple chords and tones on the virtual musical instruments. Different audio tracks can also be recorded in parallel. For Android devices, the Walk Band app (free) is an alternative.
If you can read music, you can use, for example, the app Kinderlieder (for Android and iOS) for support, where you can find the sheet music of many popular children’s songs.
You can read more about the accompaniment of children’s songs here.
With the lovingly designed app Banddings (approx. 3.50 €; for Android and iOS), children aged 3 and older experience a variety of musical adventures: They can form a band themselves and learn about different musical instruments by clicking through various musical and colorful stories.
The choice of musical apps for kids is wide. Portals like ene-mene-mobile.de or the database of the German Youth Institute help you find the right app for your child. When choosing an app, you should make sure that it does not contain advertising and that children cannot easily make in-app purchases. Especially with children’s apps, it pays to choose carefully in advance and invest a few euros in good apps.
It looks like a classic radio: the hörbert listening box. Listening boxes are very popular with children and there is a wide selection on the market. Like many other boxes, hörbert also advertises with foolproof usability. But hörbert looks a little different and brings other special features.
The best way to describe hörbert is as a wooden MP3 player. It was specially designed for children from 2.5 years. Simple and few functions should help children to use the hearing box intuitively. hörbert has nine colorful buttons in addition to the on/off switch and volume control. Behind each button is a whole playlist of songs or stories. Clicking the same button will jump one track further. For fast forward and rewind, there are two more buttons that the child can easily operate independently.
When you purchase an hörbert, songs and stories are included on a memory card with 140 minutes of runtime. The content can be overdubbed with your own favorite songs and audiobooks using the software.
The box offers clear functions and a simple design, which allows children to operate it independently.
The simple transfer of the memory card with a variety of new content will not let you get bored. Children (with your help) can download their own favorite songs and stories to the memory card and play them through hörbert. Thanks to its own software, Hörbert does not need the internet or the cloud and does not require any personal data from you or your child.
You can also limit the maximum volume via a small additional switch next to the battery, e.g. for small children or if your child wants to listen to a story in bed at night.
Is your child growing up bilingual or would like to get a taste of other languages at an early age? Songs and stories are available at hörbert in German, but also multilingual.
If you want, you can even get creative and make your own hörbert! For this, you order “hörbert’s electronics kit” and can build your own individual creation of the box together with your children.
“Children can operate hörbert entirely by themselves from about 2.5 years of age, because then they are strong enough to operate the on/off switch.” According to the supplier, in addition to the simple operation, the robust design is specially designed for children: hörbert works wirelessly and the batteries are tightly sealed. The box can withstand shocks. If something does happen, the individual components can be repaired or replaced. The hörbert is produced in a way that conserves resources. The box is made in Germany. Due to the environmentally friendly processing, there is no health risk for (small) children.
Buying the hörbert box is not for the small purse: without special requests and individual engraving, it costs € 239.00 in the in-house store. Additional memory cards with more than four hours of content have a cost factor of €29.90. The electronics kit for tinkerers is available for 119,00 €. A cheaper alternative is, for example, the Toniebox.
Although listening to stories and music is an enriching experience for children, it does not replace reading aloud by parents. Media are not babysitters and they should always be there, especially with young children, when their children have their first experience with media.
This article is a guest post by Dr. Daniel Hajok.
With the scandal surrounding Farid Bang and Kollegah at the last ECHO awards, gangster rap has once again entered the public discussion. Parents, who all too often observe an enthusiasm for hip-hop in their children, ask themselves in view of the criticized crass lyrics whether what today reaches young people mainly via YouTube, earplugs and concert visits is not a serious danger for growing up.
With its roots in the African-American ghettos of the U.S., hip-hop was already dealing with ‘hard issues’ in the 1970s, social ills, social inequalities and more. From the beginning, the artistic means of expression was not only the power of spoken word (rap), but also DJing, break dancing and graffiti promoted the rise of hip-hop to a significant subculture, with which initially the socially disadvantaged youth and young adults of large US cities identified.
Hip-hop achieved commercial success and popularity beyond the country’s borders when rap music was put on records and on the radio. This quickly aroused the enthusiasm of young people in other countries as well: Hip-hop became the most important music-related youth culture worldwide – and has remained so to this day. In Germany, the scene emerged in the 1980s. The following continued to grow in the following period and in the 1990s the first rappers with German-language lyrics had great commercial success.
Many parents are horrified when they hear the lyrics of Kollegah, Bushido & Co. Nevertheless, gangsta rap has long been a very important and at the same time youth-affine hip-hop genre in Germany as well. Stylistic features include crass language and a demeanor of ‘masculine toughness’ on the part of the protagonists. Although there is a lot here about social grievances and social inequalities, the focus is often on the staging of the stars of the scene with things that you really don’t want with regard to your own children: violence and crime, devaluation of weaker people and the enhancement of the ego with power and status per se.
The German gangster rappers often have a migration background and have experienced exclusion and disintegration in ‘problem neighborhoods’ of our big cities. The identification potential is therefore particularly high for young people with similar experiences. The commercial success of gangster rap is due not least to the increasing enthusiasm among young people from ‘good homes’. Again, many like the fat beats and wordiness of the stars surrounded by money, cars and women. Via gangster rap, they can immerse themselves in the fascinating world of ‘Sex and Crime’ at any time and thus set themselves apart from their parents.
Gangster rap often offers our children very questionable identity designs. However, it does not affect them negatively per se. Likewise, the mostly young fans do not adopt the transported values, such as the power of the strongest and women as sex objects, one-to-one in their lives. In many places, the texts also encourage people to take a critical look at themselves and open up discussions in the clique about social ills and crime in problematic urban environments.
Gangster rap has a particularly dangerous potential when it appeals to young people with its music and the verbal battles between the cool stars, but the lyrics and video clips portray violence, criminal lifestyles, drug use, homophobia and contempt for women as worthy of imitation and promising success – and are not critically questioned. In these cases, young people may well be impaired or even endangered in their development into a self-reliant and socially competent personality.
Even with gangster rap, you are faced with the difficulty of not unthinkingly ‘maddening’ your children’s preferences while still showing a clear attitude of your own. To become aware of this, you should first ask yourself: What music did I use to set myself apart from my parents back then? How do I feel about depictions of violence, crime, and discrimination? What negative influences on my child’s development do I fear? Can I also get something positive out of her/his preference?
In any case, parents should not completely lose sight of their charges’ exposure to music, and should even take it as an opportunity for discussion. What does my child like about gangster rap anyway – and what doesn’t? How do you yourself feel about the texts and the images of the clips? In order to be able to show your own children the limits of what is tolerated and also to enforce them in everyday life, you as parents should also know the most important legal rules and be aware of the possibilities of appropriate educational interaction. The Federal Review Board for Media Harmful to Young People (BPjM), for example, has prepared a number of reports on the topic.
About the author:
Dr. Daniel Hajok is a communications and media scientist. He works as an expert witness, empiricist, seminar/workshop leader, and technical writer. His work focuses on media, society and social work, child and youth media protection, media education research and practice.
