Garrett Lierman
staff writer
Over the last several months, multiple students have taken it upon themselves to share their music with all those who traverse the halls by loudly playing music from speakers in their backpacks. There is no policy for this, but there is debate as to whether one is needed.
“I feel like there is a fine line in this school,” long-term substitute teacher Ohmar Steed said. “Everyone here is a millennial, they’re all digital natives. Everyone is synced to their phone in some way. It used to be that nobody was allowed to use their phones and now you can. Maybe this is just similar to that, and people are just pushing the boundaries.”
While technically the student planner and handbook says that phones are allowed during passing periods and lunch, it is widely known by students and staff alike that a multitude of teachers allow cell phone use in class provided it is solely for academic purposes or that it does not distract from class. While the speakers are not used in the actual classroom, some feel that they are a distraction in the halls.
“To me it’s annoying because I don’t particularly like the type of music they typically play,” sophomore Megan Baris said.
The general attitudes surrounding the musical backpacks includes people who find it mildly annoying, people who fully support and enjoy it and people who simply don’t mind or care at all. The issue many students seem to take with it is the sheer volume. The music can be heard from one end of the intersection of the history and language hallways to the other with many students in the middle either grumbling or bobbing their heads to the beat.
“I don’t know if there is a policy and I don’t see why someone who wanted to play music would care,” Baris said.
While the student handbook contains a policy for things such as a student parking in the wrong parking lot, the only mentions of anything digital are the Internet policy and the phone policy. A seriously distracting use of an electronic device is punishable by a 10-day suspension from the school, it does not define what is considered a “serious disruption.”
“I think it’s pretty annoying and there should probably be something against it,” junior Isaiah Galvan said.
There have been a large number of grumblings from students and teachers alike. Students complain that it’s distracting and causes more chaos in the hallway than is necessary. Teachers complain that the music can be heard through the walls of their classrooms distracting them from work or setting up for the next hour of students.
Even students who are annoyed by it, however, understand students who choose to blare their music.
“It’s an act of self-expression, even if it’s a distraction,” Baris said.
Principal Chris Dallas is often the hallway monitor of the intersection of the history and language hallways. He stated that students usually turn down or turn off their music when asked.
Some students are repeat offenders, waiting until they are actually asked to stop again to turn it down. However, most students possessing speakers have begun to turn down the volume before they reach the area monitored by the principals.
“I usually ask them to turn it down or turn it off,” Dallas said. “They can use their headphones because I don’t think everybody needs to be hearing all that.”
Speakers like this iHome speaker are often used during school hours. They can be as low as 15 dollars or as high as 75 dollars. Most feature some form of bass-boosting capability and are small enough to fit in almost any pocket of a backpack without much, if any, distraction or getting in the way.