As of the 2023-34 school year, MMS has enforced a new no wireless headphones rule. This comes a year after the no phones rule and specifies that any headphones that don’t have a cord that visibly connects to the Chromebook should not be seen from 7:55 to 3:00. Students that are caught with wireless headphones during the school day will have both their phone and headphones taken down to the office until the end of the day when the student picks up the devices.
The rule is a result of students listening to music during class instruction, which can be very distracting. According to one teacher, AirPods in particular were being worn at all times–students finding it more convenient to leave them in the ear than place them back into the charging case. Mrs. Saunders stated, “Students would say they were off, but it was hard to tell… They were wearing them almost like an accessory.”
Another issue was the potential violation of the existing phone policy. Since the wireless headphones are connected to phones, which school policy says should be powered off, the wireless headphones created confusion and grey area with the phone policy.
In an interview with Mr. Paydo, the school counselor at Mayfield Middle School, he stated, “Our school has an instructional leadership team, its called ILT, and there is a teacher on each of the teams that provides input to the school. When they met over the summer, they made a decision that earbuds would not be allowed.” He added that teachers said the headphone “were causing a distraction” and that students “were not paying attention in class because of earbuds.”
It’s not just MMS that has enforced rules like this; it’s schools all over the whole world. According to the National Education Association, “in 2020, cell phone bans were in place in 76% of U.S schools.” It is likely more schools have followed suit in the last two years. There are also more schools banning wireless earbuds.
Unsurprisingly, many students think the new rule is too strict. Students also like to listen to music while doing their work and some say it helps them concentrate, especially when they are studying. When in an interview with a student at Mayfield Middle School she stated that “it depends on the student and the type of class you have. Some students may not have headphones that have a cord and may only have Bluetooth headphones and when you connect it, it makes it so much easier.” Many students think that the devices should be permitted at least during noninstructional times like lunch.
But in an interview with science teacher Mr. Dick, he stated that the new rule “definitely helps because I kept having issues year after year with wireless earbuds.”
Mrs. Saunders notes that students still use headphones for educational purposes. “We listen to audio books and watch videos, but the new policy makes it easier to make sure headphones are only in use when needed. The cord running right into the Chromebook makes it more likely the content being listened to is for class. And more importantly, no one’s leaving them on during instruction.”
Aside from the distraction during classes, there is also a study that wireless headphones are damaging kids’ ears. The more someone wears them, they can cause an ear infections and impact hearing. According to healthpartners.com, “The biggest potential risk of using earbuds is hearing loss and tinnitus resulting from damage to your inner ear.” This is because of the unique structure of an earbud. “In-ear earbuds play music directly into your ear canal. When the soundwave from the music reaches your eardrum, it creates a vibration that’s passed through the tiny bones of your middle ear and then into your inner ear.”
To conclude MMS has recently enforced a new no wireless earbuds rule which can be really helpful to the teachers.
