Music plays a major part in people’s lives, especially teenagers. Teens can be constantly seen listening to music with headphones, streaming music on their phones, and attending concerts and watching their favorite musicians perform.

Music has a powerful impact on students and their class work. It turns out that music has an impact on students’ focus, mood, and productivity.

According to Florida National University, studies have shown  that listening to music during class time can improve focus, enhance mood, and boost productivity.

According to a recent journalism poll conducted with Norwin High School students, 72 percent of students feel that they are able to get more work done with music playing.

Students may work better while listening to music because it is more likely to increase productivity, leading to them being more focused on an assignment and getting it done, rather than putting it to the side.

 “Having music on in the background makes school work just a little more tolerable,” said a senior in the Knight Krier poll. “Knowing I’ll have music to listen to makes me want to work instead of talk or get distracted.”

Norwin High School is not the only school that feels listening to music helps them with schoolwork; other students at different high schools feel the same way. Harrisonburg High School in Virginia has a feature on their media page about students having access to music in the classrooms.“If administration wants to improve the learning environment and improve students’ learning, students should be allowed to listen to music during independent study,”-Harrisonburg High School.

“I think that music can act as a way to relax and take a brain break.  I teach computer science, a lot of times, your program is not going to work the way you intended,” Computer Science middle school teacher Mrs.Pollock said. “Instead of letting frustration take over, I find it helpful to stop, listen to music to relax, and then focus myself back into the activity.”

83 percent of Norwin High school students were found to believe more of their teachers should allow access to listening to music during class to help focus on their assignments.

“I feel they should allow music because it helps most kids focus better, but if some of the work that is assigned is important and requires discussion among peers, listening to a lecture, or any other work that involves giving full attention to a teacher or another student, music should not be present,” said an a freshmen student on the poll.

Students understand when music should and should not be allowed in class. Most students would prefer to use their headphones to stream music while independent work is assigned.

“With some assignments I think listening to music really helps me focus,” said a Norwin senior. “I think teachers shouldn’t restrict the use of headphones and/or music. Instead they should leave it open as an option for student.” 

Norwin High students would like to have an option for being able to listen to music during class time. With having the option of being able to listen to music, students may be able to focus more on certain assignments.

Students often will play more upbeat songs to get them in the mood to do work rather than a slow song that they might get distracted from or might decrease the amount of energy they have for the assignment to begin with.

Additionally, in a recent journalism poll taken by Norwin students, 77 percent say they are more creative with school projects while having music playing.

If students do better with creativity on school projects while listening to music, students could be seeing an increase in their grades. Students don’t choose to listen to music while doing projects, but 87 percent of Norwin High students also choose to listen to music while studying.

“I generally feel more focused when i can have something in the background. music is my first option for that,” said one Norwin senior.

Many students  in Norwin and others like to rely on music to boost their mood, build motivation, and increase their productivity. Some students find that working in silence makes it harder to stay on topic, than when having background noise such as music.

By seeing some students’ perspectives, teachers can better understand how students feel about music in the classroom. Not only Norwin, but many more high schools show the same results when asked about their opinions on music and their school work. Crank up the tunes, get in the mood, and get to work!