Photo by Brianna-Huynh Tong
Earbud usage debate
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As the new school year begins, many students hope to have laid back and lenient teachers who allow the use of headphones freely. However, this is usually not the case. Many teachers have policies regarding headphone usage in their class which consequently causes an increase of sly headphone uses. Some teachers may give permission, but also have rules limiting their capabilities.
Some students, however, may stay on task better with the use of headphones to listen to their music. Listening to music that students enjoy could block out disturbances and potentially allow them to concentrate on the task at hand.
“[Music] keeps my mind off of other things,” senior Angelica Medina said. “When I have my music in, I can only hear that. It makes me focus on what I’m doing.”
Listening to music could also allow students to block out conversations and nonsense commentary. To have the ability to listen to something you enjoy in class may give the teacher more respect for allowing their students for indulgence as they work in class. If students were allowed to listen to music, there would still be some rules regarding the use of headphones. Despite that, having some type of freedom for using headphones would be appreciated by the students. Many teachers think listening to music while working is a distraction, yet others claim listening to music is a way to escape the chaos and focus on what is important.
“I think there are times when it could be a distraction,” English teacher Jordan Vogel said. “If we’re having a class discussion or some kind of conversation and they’re listening to music they might miss out.”
There is definitely a reason to worry about students listening to music. Students may get used to the privilege given to them, and may start to take this privilege for granted. For this reason, teachers should have some rules for headphone usage. As long as students and teachers are able to communicate and cooperate together as a team, then the usage of headphones could work for both the teachers and students.
“Typically, when [students] use it during lectures, I just ask them, ‘Hey put that away,’” Vogel said. “If it is a repeated thing then I’d pull them away and have a conversation.”
Overall, student use of headphones may be quite beneficial. The students may respect their teachers more, be more productive, and finish their work faster. All in all, teachers should consider the use of headphones as students work in class.
