A hot topic among students, faculty, and administration is whether listening to music in class should be allowed or banned. This was a pretty hot topic last year in particular as Principal Parker was still principal here when he would remind all the students not to have their earbuds on campus. So basically, they were banned up to last year (but that never stopped students who had a passion for listening to music, like me).

Last year, teachers standing in the hallways would tell students to put up their earbuds and remind them of how Mr. Parker would tell everyone that they were not allowed on school grounds. If the same teacher caught you more than once though, they would take up your earbuds, drilling the same information in your head, and you probably wouldn’t get them back, like I never did. This year though, it seems that teachers don’t really care about it that much, and I see a lot more students using earbuds in the hallways and classrooms. But should students be allowed to use them?

I’m going to leave out the names of students and especially teachers to keep them from getting into any trouble that may come from their opinions. Anyway, I have friends that have previously voiced their opinions on this topic, and they have said that it does not make much sense why headphones or earbuds aren’t even allowed on school grounds. I also had a teacher last year that said, “…as long as it helps you be creative, I don’t mind you using them.” And I even found an online poll where the only arguments were that earbuds lead to hearing loss and that it distracts people from their work, even though listening to calm, smooth music can help you think while studying.

Now, I can see why it would be aggravating for teachers. For example, if the teacher is trying to give instruction, that would be a bad time for students to have earbuds in, and that can be when teachers say no earbuds, and I’m pretty sure most students will understand that. But when students are doing their work is a time that I think students should be allowed to listen to music in class. I haven’t had any trouble yet.