There has been debate over whether or not music is more helpful or more harmful to the students of Fair Grove High School. Students say that music helps them study and others say it makes them lose focus.
Jesse Elliston (10) said, “I believe that music should be allowed when the teacher isn’t lecturing in class. Usually in this situation, it is time to freely work on our assignments, so the music helps me drown out unnecessary conversations.”
The students enjoy different types of music to help them study. Sache Dowling (10) said, “I think that depends on the person. For me, I like calming and slower pop alone with country when I study. I also know a few people that despise country music and that would be a distraction for them. I believe that, for some people, any sound at all can be distracting and silence is better for them to focus.”
Dowling stated, “I think that it should be up to the individual teachers that run their own classrooms. I think that music could be a distraction for some students that don’t use it wisely but some students would benefit from it.”
Wes Hart (10) said that he thinks that music helps people study when they are working. He also stated that he thinks that it helps take your mind off of problems and help you focus on the homework that you are working on.
Dowling stated that sometimes she enjoys listening to music while she is studying. Other times she finds it distracting to listen to music while she is studying. She said that it depends on the time of day and what type of music she is listening to whether or not it would help her study.
Some of the students think that the rules that are around whether or not music should be used by the students when they study. Elliston said, “I think the rules should be more lenient. Even now when the rules are relatively strict, people still find ways to listen to music while they work. If the rules became stricter, people would find other ways to hear their songs. Why try harder to restrict something that is already a losing battle?”
Dowling also stated, “Definitely more lenient. Music can be a great tool to get in the zone and block out distractions such as talkative friends. I think that if the teacher trusts a student to be on task while listening to music, then there should be no reason why the student shouldn’t be able to.”
