In 2025, society is lucky to live in a technological world. It’s not abnormal to see people on their phones, laptops, Airpods in ear while walking down the street, busy with projects, or extracurriculars. But how much do the benefits impact compared to the negatives?
Nowadays it is common to see students in a classroom zoned out with Airpods in their ears. And some have to wonder: How impactful this has to be in an educational sense?
From how noise impacts listening skills, the overall impact of the social decline between students with their peers, but also the decline with relationships between students and their teachers.
“Students don’t talk to each other anymore and they lack social skills. Students don’t know how to interact with each other, how to speak with each other, so the things they used to learn, they just don’t know anymore,” Math teacher Katie Carelock said.
However, students have another take on the outlook of airpods as a whole.
“I don’t think airpods really affect my listening ability. And even if it does sometimes, it’s nice to be able to block out any possible distractions in a classroom while working on independent assignments in the class,” Jack Odenbeck (11) said.
According to “Listening to music in class supports students and helps them to focus in class”, listening to music while studying actually increases students’ dopamine levels and motivates and encourages them to focus on school, and to turn in assignments. Background noise can help students focus and hone in on their projects.
However, in contrast to this opinion, another study showed that silence helped students’ overall grade and performance outcome.
Also, Airpods have been considered by many teachers to be rude and offensive, while in school and outside of school.
“But I can also see where it could be a problem if a waitress or waiter has their airpods in while working, or when talking to someone like the principal. It’s still important to realize when certain situations require a certain level of respect,” Odenbeck said.
Overall, there are mixed feelings about the usage of Airpods especially in the classroom. More teachers seem to disagree with them being used in the classroom than students, but the majority of students expressed their liking to using them.
“I mean you can use Airpods to multitask. It’s easier to concentrate and find a little more motivation with work if you’re not thinking too hard about it and I personally think airpods help with that,” Odenbeck said.
