Listening to Music is Good for You                                                              

At the start of every school year I hear the same thing in every classroom “Take out your earbuds” or “No music during class”. Teachers love to say they know more than us , but in reality they don’t. Every time teachers tell us “no music allowed during class” they are getting in the way of our education. Some kids need the music to focus on the work that's being assigned. 

That’s exactly the problem.  I am one of thoses kids. To me the music is like white noise. Meaning like for some people they need quiet but for me the music is the quiet. It helps me focus; it’s like when the music is playing I get put into my own personal bubble and nothing can distract me from what I'm doing. The University of Maryland Medical Center explains that “Music is an effective stress reducer in both healthy individuals and people with health problems. Research finds that listening to soothing music can decrease blood pressure, heart rate, and anxiety levels in heart patients.” Music helps people in many ways like helping to relieve stress in all types of people. Music can also help people with health problems in general.

I know most teachers are going to be like “well then you won’t be able to hear us when we are teaching”. Well we can if we have the volume turned down low so we can still be in our own personal bubble, but we can still hear you at the same time.

If students don’t have the strategies that work for them in school, kids could drop out because they can’t pass any classes. They could also begin to feel stupid and have poor mental health when in reality they just aren’t being allowed to use the proper strategies they need to be successful. Teachers have to stop taking students' music away, and start letting students know that they can have that strategy to be successful in school. 

This school year let’s fight for our music back.

**Inspired by “Losing is Good for You” By Ashley Merryman