Kids Don't Need to Listen to Music While They Work
In this video, Dr. Justin Baeder argues that allowing students to listen to music during classwork is a net distraction, not a productivity tool.
Key Takeaways
- Music is a distraction for most students - Research shows that background music generally impairs cognitive performance on complex tasks
- 'I work better with music' is usually not true - Students prefer music but don't actually perform better with it
- Don't use accommodations as a blanket policy - If specific students need music as an accommodation, that's different from allowing everyone to wear earbuds
Transcript
Kids do not need to listen to music on their cell phones in school to help them concentrate.
That is not a good reason to not ban cell phones.
The evidence is overwhelming.
Phones are a net negative.
And I think it's plausible that there could be some benefits, like kids can concentrate better if they can block out noise with headphones and listening to music.
But still, I don't I don't think it outweighs the drawbacks.
And when it comes to actually listening to music and getting your work done, we have lots of research on this.
And there's actually a company that has studied what type of music makes you more productive.
It's called Focus at Will.
I've used them for many years just to keep myself focused while I'm working on something, while I'm writing.
and they found that most types of music are not good for concentration.
They are fun to listen to, but they distract you from what you're thinking about.
It is very difficult to do any kind of intellectual work when you're listening to most types of music, and especially anything with, of course, lyrics, but really any kind of vocalization or any kind of stringed instrument that sounds like the human voice.
So if you look at the kinds of music they have, it's really interesting how they've subtracted those distracting elements to come up with music that really does allow you to focus.
But if you just let kids play whatever they want to play on their phones, it's not helping them focus.
They need to be able to sit in a room and work, whether they're working on their own or working with a group or whatever.
They do not need to be listening to music to focus.
I think that's just not a good excuse for phones.
Let me know what you think.