Give me some credit

As Eminem releases his latest album, 13-year-old Sean Maher says he has had enough of adults telling him he shouldn't be listening to the controversial American rapper

I walked into a gunfight with a knife to kill you
And cut you so fast when your blood spilled it was still blue
I'll hang you till you dangle and chain you with both ankles
And pull you apart from both angles
I want to crush your skull till your brains leak out of your veins
And bust open like broken water mains.

These lyrics are taken from a song written by Eminem. I know many people will find them disturbing, but all his songs have similar lyrics and they are all based on experiences drawn from his life or the way he feels. I don't pretend to like Eminem's lyrics, but it annoys me when adults, TV pundits and other busybodies say children should not be listening to his music. For most of us, Eminem is just another artist who resides in the top 40 most weeks. He's not a role model.

Like my friends, I enjoy listening to Eminem's songs for the way they sound, not because they contain swear words or references to drugs and sex. I've had Eminem's The Slim Shady LP (his first major album) since the week it was released, and so far I've had no urge to kill anyone in cold blood. I mostly just listen to the album as background music when I'm doing other things.

Eminem is not the sort of artist you listen to to help liven up your day. His lyrics won't cheer you up. But when I do pay attention to the words, I find them interesting; all his songs tell

entertaining stories. For instance, his lyrical tirades against his mother and his wife Kym meant he was sued by both parties; he also used sound bites of his daughter as a baby on a track to get at his wife after they had slit up.

And the song 'Stan', which reached number one, is about an Eminem fan who goes mad when Eminem doesn't reply to his fan mail and then drives in to the sea. It's not a nice story, but that's what makes it interesting; it's Eminem being non-conformist and making fun of his extremist fans.

I know some of my peers are more likely to buy an album if it has an 'explicit lyrics' tag on the front of the CD case; some may even want to emulate Eminem. Maybe there are those who will see him pulling out his chain saw and wearing a hockey mask on stage and want to go and do the same. But is it fair to deny people the right to listen to music they enjoy just because of what someone, somewhere might do? And if Eminem's music was banned, kids would still be able to download it from the internet and many more would be inclined to listen to it because they would know they were doing something 'wrong'.

Anyone who is going to be influenced by Eminem would surely be influenced by other things anyway. Many computer games, films and TV programmes have content equally bad (or worse) than any album Eminem has ever released. Yes, those things have age limits, but the age limit on a computer game's packaging is confined to the back of the case - and many shop assistants turn a blind eye anyway.

Most people - including children - are strong minded enough to decide for themselves what they want to do in life. If Eminem was banned just because of fears about what some kids might do, then there's just as strong a case (if not stronger) for not allowing adults to buy alcohol. Adults watch and listen to all sorts of entertainers without feeling propelled to do things they otherwise wouldn't. So give us some credit: do you really want to deny thousands of children like me the chance to listen to music we enjoy?