Why do students want to wear airpods?

Students enjoy wearing their airpods as it allows them to listen to music or podcasts. Students have also claimed to have focused better and are more concentrated doing their work when listening to music. 

Listening also helps create a more engaging environment to learn in. Others just do it without purpose, or to get rid of boredom. For example, Micheal Torrisi, a freshman here at Pentucket, says he listens to music because “it’s something to do when I’m bored.” 

Having airpods is also beneficial when completed with an assignment. If a student is completed and has no other work to be done, listening is a good pastime that helps students keep quiet while they wait for class to finish. Freshman Rowan Weinberg also says, “When I’m finished with my work and can’t go on my phone, my favorite thing to do is listen to music.”

Why do teachers not allow kids to wear airpods?

Teachers as a whole seem to not like the idea of listening to music in class. This is mainly because listening to music in class can come off as disrespectful to the teacher, who feels like the student doesn’t care about their teaching.

Other reasons also exist, like how wearing airpods or earbuds might be distracting to other students in the class who are trying to focus and do their work. Weinberg also said, “airpods could easily be used to cheat on tests or in-class assignments.”

The debate

The debate between whether they should be allowed or not has been around for a while, and for good reason. There’s supplied points to both sides that make it seem like a definite decision.

Allowing airpods manages to keep the classroom quiet, entertain the students, and provide a better learning environment.

 Meanwhile, not allowing them helps reduce distractions and shows respect. What’s most interesting is that I asked seven students the question “Have you ever worn airpods/earbuds with the purpose to be disrespectful or disruptive?”, all answered no. However just because they didn’t do it purposefully doesn’t mean they haven’t done it by accident. 

Overall, there will never be a definite answer as we are all not the same people. Although there are great reasons for both sides of the argument, the decision will ultimately be decided by the teacher.