The spirit of rock and roll has always been about rebellion, but in Kosovo it’s also labelled as criminal, at least that’s according to an official citizenship textbook that’s been in circulation for eight years, reports The Independent.
The Southeastern European country, and former province of Serbia, uses a high school textbook in its fundamental education that contains a paragraph that reads “rock music, pornography, violence on television – all not good acts – have been proven to be totally criminal.” But now, Kosovo’s Ministry of Education has officially ordered teachers to disregard the paragraph in their teachings.
It seems that the offending paragraph had gone unnoticed for nearly a decade, until last week when it came to light through a public television feature that sparked outrage amongst the community, leading to the Ministry of Education’s new ruling that school teachers leave the ‘rock is criminal’ part out of their curriculum.
Ministry official Ramush Lekaj tells The Independent that “the publishers are asked, when they republish the book, to immediately eliminate this shortcoming.” While frontman of popular Kosovo rock band Troja, Buja Berish says the offending passage besmirches rock’s intentions.“Rock and roll is not a crime. It is rebellious but it is a positive rebellion. It has always been the voice of the people against injustice, from Vietnam to Kosovo.” – Buja Berish, Troja
“Rock and roll is not a crime,” says the Troja singer. “It is rebellious but it is a positive rebellion. It has always been the voice of the people against injustice, from Vietnam to Kosovo.”
Embarrassingly, the entire affair was down to a typo, according to the citizen textbook’s author. Bajram Shatri, who penned the tome alongside an Albanian author, tells The Associated Press that “it should say ‘commercial’, not ‘criminal.”
In his official apology to Kosovo’s rock and roll community, the author insisted that not all music is wholesome.”Some musical content can negatively affect the children,” said the clerical error-peddling Shatri, who admitted his own children listened to rock music (but not whether they were criminal juvies or not).
Good news for Kosovo students who have spent years being educated that rock music was illegal, who can break free of prejudice and turn to long hair, pummelling guitar riffs, and thundering drum solos (*phew*).
While not as extreme as labelling it ‘criminal’, the world of science has previously linked rock music with some pretty negative effects.
A study at the Utrecht University in the Netherlands sought to prove that listening to hard rock, metal, hip-hop, and dubstep could lead to delinquency in minors.
Led and conducted by Dr. Tom ter Bogt, the study followed the musical tastes of children between the ages of 12 – 16 making links between what music they liked and troublesome behaviour; Dr. ter Bogt himself has grave concerns for his own 10-year-old son, who “likes Justin Bieber but also the German heavy metal band Rammstein. I’ve got to keep an eye on him.”
Meanwhile, a 2012 study at the University of Minnesota claimed that rock music made people racist. “Rock music is generally associated with white Americans, so we believe it cues white listeners to think about their positive association with their own in-group,” said Heather LaMarre, assistant professor of journalism and mass communication. “That was enough for them to show more support for a student group representing mostly whites.”
Rock music, making racist criminals out of delinquents since the days of Chuck Berry. Doesn’t really have a sexy ring to it does it?
