Photo Source: USATODAY
They’re at lunch tables, in classrooms, in restaurants, in gyms and daily conversations. What am I talking about exactly? Earphones. They’ve become such a large part of a teenager’s average life, I mean, most of us can’t leave the house without looking through cushions, under sofas, and in bags in order to find our earphones. Our parents complain, our teachers complain, even strangers that we don’t know complain, yet we simply ignore them and place the earphones back into their rightful place in our ears.
To many of us, music means a lot more than just sounds and words; it comforts us in dark times and keeps our mood up when we’re happy. It soothes us during our heartbreaks and doesn’t laugh at our ugly crying. It’s there when a lot of our close ones aren’t, be it classical or rock, rap or hip-hop, or whatever we listen to. The only “problem” is that that music is involved in our lives a bit too much as teenagers, and though I don’t really call it an issue, I can see why many think so.
So many schools around the nation (even our own) seek to ban these things and their reasons lay under the pretense that earphones and music are a distraction in many environments. Others find it dangerous when a student walks around blasting their music, unaware of their surroundings. These two reasons aren’t completely wrong. I’ve seen students in classrooms not paying a single mind to the teacher struggling in the front of the class trying to give instructions. I myself have ignored my friends who’ve tried to communicate with me while I was feeling my moods with Billie Eilish. I can see why the adults are freaking out and if I were them, I would too if I’m constantly responded with an “I’m sorry did you say something?”
But banning earphones won’t solve the problem, it would simply make a lot of teenagers (including myself) angry, and trust me, angry teenagers (especially me) are the worst. That student that is sitting in class with their headphones might be going through some tough times. Banning the one thing that is keeping them stable in a stressful environment is, in plain words, not smart. We as teenagers should also do our part in order to keep what we lean on by our sides. Be respectful to your teachers and listen, I’m sure that way they’ll be more lenient when the proper time comes. Although adults can be unreasonable sometimes, let’s not give them more reasons to act in that manner.
Oh and on a completely different note, I’m currently listening to classical music (don’t judge me) while writing this article. Chopin just hits well sometimes…
By Amaris Carerra (Broadcast Producer)