The most recent chart countdown revealed the worst kept music secret in years; that a sample of a 17 year old Belgian boy impersonating a motorbike planted on top of a cheesy, TV theme tune has become the best-selling song in Britain. Yes, Crazy Frog (die die die) reached number one in the singles charts. It rather nicely creates an identifiable point to mark where society has reached a very very low status indeed.
First of all, who is buying it? Who would spend money on a single like that? It's actually tripe. No one over 18 would seriously consider it - it's so far beyond bad that it's not uncool enough to become 'ironic-cool'. It really is shit. So it falls upon the shoulders of the 'kids': pre- and early-teens who are pure suckers for a bandwagon. At that age, easily influenced and desperate to fit in, companies and merchandisers plug the latest crazes to the helpless kids for all they're worth, creating constant awareness and apparant need for whatever rubbish the craze happens to be - Jamsters advertise up to three times in a commercial break during primetime evening television. Thank GOD for BBC channels. According to the Guardian, Jamsters have made £10million from the crazy frog ringtone...and that was before the single had been released. I can't help thinking some of that £10m would be wisely spent putting the kids with that ringtone through school...
Secondly, news last week was that 3 sisters under the age of 16 have all given birth. In other words, ONE family has produced THREE teenage pregnancies before the three pregnant girls should legally be having sex. One of the girls did it when she was 12, another had already had 4 abortions (though admittedly that came from the News of the World, so take the number '4', and in fact the word 'abortions' too, with a pinch of salt). Though this news is shocking, it is only because it is a new level of shocking. It is not out of this world, or indeed that surprising - after all, Britain has the highest number of teenage pregnancies in Europe. But where does the problem lie?
It could be argued that there has been an increase in the problems associated within the youth environment: teenage pregancies, mindless vandalism, burglary of ill pensioners, hoax calling firemen in order to attack them, and more general problems - more kids on streets, more truant from schools, failure of discipline in schools, underage drinking, a resurgence in nationalism/racism etc. This is a core issue in society and needs addressing. It is not a positive feature of this country that gangs of teenagers in 'hooded tops' hang around in public places in the evenings vandalising property, threatening/mugging innocent people and getting each other pregnant. The mother of the three underage pregnancy girls (you could only call her a mother because she gave birth to the sisters, she certainly doesn't seem to qualify as a mother in any other way) blamed the schools. In reality, though (stupid cow), the schools don't have the ability to stop 12 year old girls going to boys' houses and having sex - it's the parents' job. An upbringing plays a huge part in how an individual eventually turns out.
In that case, then, the environment and surroundings a child is brought up in seems the focus for improvement if society is NOT to spiral out of control into a state of dominance by a disrespecting yob culture. Reducing the glamorisation of this status, quelling its appeal, more effort to put the youth through a disciplined education, recreating a certain level of respect for authority.
And the immediate putting-to-death of anyone who publicly transmits any form of the Crazy Frog - song, ringtone or joke impersonation.
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