EDITORIAL: iPods in Study Hall - The Debate Continues
By Charlie S., Purple Team

Should iPods be allowed in the classroom? It's a great question. Middle school students all over the country with iPods who aren't allowed to have them during school probably will do anything to be able to use them or have them during school hours. At MMS, this too is the case, and I have seen students trying to do the same. While many 6th, 7th and 8th graders might support this idea, there are pros as well as cons.

There is no doubt that people who attend MMS would love to have even just a little time when they could use their iPods during the school day. Nine out of ten students I asked thought they should be able to have iPods during study. But how would this improve study hall?

To some kids, music helps them focus on their work, drowning out other thoughts that invade our minds when we do homework. Not all students have work to do during their study period or 20 minute study hall before lunch. Some read the whole time. If those who read during study hall had music to listen to, it might help calm their nerves, or help them awaken, if they hadn't gotten enough sleep the night before. Having iPods could in fact improve the atmosphere of a study hall.

However, there are problems that accompany this idea. Many people, myself included, like to crank up the volume as loud as possible. While this might have the benefit of waking up the iPod user, it could distract other students that have an important test for which they need to study. As well as being disruptive, iPods can distract students from doing anything altogether and just sit there and listen. This would take away the whole point of a study hall: to study.

Students might support the idea, but teachers might not want to take the risk of them abusing study hall with their iPods. However, I do think that somehow iPods and music should be able to enter the daily life of MMS but be restricted to helping students better enjoy the school while learning and get work done.