Sarah Fredericks and Sarah DeCosta-Marsland, representatives from Elizabeth Buffum-Chace House, visited with the students in Bain's Project Respect group last month. Their goal was to work with the middle school students to delve more deeply into the song lyrics they listen to on a day-to-day basis.

"Last year some of the students who wanted to perform in the talent show brought music with them that was inappropriate, but they didn't realize it, or understand why," said Sheri Brown, faculty advisor for Project Respect at Bain. "Kids today are so desensitized, they don't realize what the songs are really even saying.”

Fredericks and DeCosta-Marsland brought with them a tool created by a group in Boston that would help the students rank the different themes contained in the song. Created to look like a nutrition label, similar to what one would see on food packaging, the label contains unhealthy relationship ingredients on it such as drama, possession/obsession, disrespect, relationships, sex and manipulation, as well as healthy relationship ingredients such as fun, enjoyable, support, respect, equality and trust.

"Sometimes when we're singing along to something, we're not really paying attention to the lyrics; we don't really know what we're singing, and you may not realize what the songs are really saying," said DeCosta-Marsland.

By breaking up into small groups with an adult leading each group, the students looked at the printed out lyrics to "Top 10" songs they knew, and decided how they ranked on the list of "ingredients," ultimately deciding if the song was a healthy or unhealthy song.

"This is not just about what stars are doing in their real lives," said DeCosta-Marsland, referencing an instance of domestic violence between Chris Brown and Rhianna, "but it's also what they're singing about. Are they singing about healthy relationships?"

As the groups explored the songs, they found both the good and the bad, songs that emphasized supportive, respectful relationships as well as those that did not, including one that referenced inciting school violence as part of its lyrics.

"As members of Project Respect, I'm hoping you'll take this into your relationships with your peers, your friends, your best friends, and later down the road, into your romantic relationships, even as you're older," said Brown.

DeCosta-Marsland and Fredericks had extra song nutrition labels with them and encouraged the group to leave a blank one in order to take it home with them so that as more songs come out in the future, they have something to use to further explore the lyrics at home.

Brown was hopeful that the exercise would help the students when choosing their songs for this year's talent show, and DeCosta-Marsland was confident that the label would give them the tools they need to make good choices when choosing their acts.

"You want to make sure you're not picking songs that have unhealthy messages. You're going to be singing and dancing up there on stage,” she said. “You want to make sure you know the difference between healthy and unhealthy and know what it is you're singing.”