Posted on Thu, Oct. 31, 2002

tech.life@school | Why headphones keep students from learning

School is for absorbing not only science, English and math, but also how responsible adults behave in civilized culture.

By Joyce Kasman Valenza, Inquirer Columnist

This advocate for technology prefers her students unplugged.

Headphones are not permitted in our school, with the exception of lunch and study halls. Nevertheless, three or four times a day, I must remind a student to turn off and remove his headphones. And about three or four times a day, I am confronted with the question, "Why does our school have such a stupid rule?"

While most reasonable students would agree that personal CD players, cell phones and other electronics have no place in school while class is in session, students often complain about their right to plug in between classes, in libraries and labs, before and after school.

A never-ending chorus of the disgruntled declares: "I'm not disturbing anyone. It's not like a boom box. It helps me tune out the noise in the halls and the noise before class starts." And even, "My music is a lot more important to me than school. It gets me through the day."

Dear students, what I offer are the reasons many of your teachers (and perhaps your parents) would prefer to see you unplugged.

It's not that we delight in creating wicked, 'cause-I-said-so rules for you to follow.

It's not that your teachers and administrators don't share your appreciation for music. I am certain that many of us do. And we'd agree that when you are not in school, you have an absolute right to enjoy your rap or metal or blues.

Consider the practical reasons. First, schools prefer not to deal with the loss, damage or theft of valuable electronic possessions. And there are safety issues. Anyone who has passed through a middle or high school corridor as classes change will understand those concentrated minutes of controlled chaos are minutes when alertness matters. When you zone out from this environment, you are a hall safety hazard, an accident waiting to crash down the steps.

But there are more compelling reasons.

Consider the reason you are in school. Though I firmly believe learning can be fun, your entertainment is not our primary concern. Put simply, you are not in school to listen to music.

You are in school to behave as a student. Scholarly behavior means being alert to learning opportunities. As part of the learning community, you owe the others around you - your teachers, as well as the support staff, and your peers - full, not grudging, attention.

A judge or jury would not look favorably upon a lawyer who appeared in court with headphones around his neck waiting for the court to recess. If your doctor wore her headphones while she examined you, you might rightfully be disturbed. You might get the impression that your exam was a mere interruption in the more important soundtrack of her day. When you are wearing headphones, you appear unready to engage fully in your own practice, the practice of learning.

You are in school to learn the kinds of content we all recognize as valuable in science, English, math, and social studies.

But there is another curriculum, and that curriculum is in place to teach you how responsible, polite adults behave in a civilized culture. Polite adults smile and interact when they are part of an organization, a business, or a community.

While you may believe that your music is silent to others, that your headphones are a big improvement over the far more blatant noise of a boom box, other people are likely annoyed by the persistent buzz and pounding bass of music they can just barely hear. Schools are responsible for creating and maintaining atmospheres that contribute to academic success.

Finally, consider the impression you transmit of yourself when headphones are a dominant fashion accessory. Besides limiting your opportunities to make connections and pursue friendships, the message you broadcast is that you are socially disconnected, that anyone who would like to approach and talk to you would be interrupting your musical agenda, and that, perhaps, your studies and manners are of secondary importance.

People are likely to perceive you as discourteous and disrespectful.

A couple of years back, I was an invited speaker at a friend's college course. I traveled through significant traffic to get there. I prepared a two-hour presentation. From my position at the lectern, I saw students with headphones around their necks and on their ears. I asked that they be put away. My professor friend was clearly disappointed in the class. This "greeting" left me with a lasting negative impression about the college and the attitude of its students.

With recorded music, you have unlimited opportunities to listen to what you like. But time passes, and so do the chances to learn and to make real and enriching connections with other people. Those connections you make can enable you to be truly "plugged-in."

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Joyce Kasman Valenza is the librarian at Springfield High School in Erdenheim, Pa. Her column appears every other week in tech.life. Her e-mail address is joyce.valenza@phillynews.com.

Back to Neverending Search