“Music allows me to be entertained while working on other tasks,” junior Finn McMillan, who listens to loud rap for four to six hours a day, stated.
Not only does music help individuals, like McMillan, focus on their work but also helps relieve stress.
Listening to music through ear splitting wireless earbuds, such as Apple’s Airpods, has become a trend among students. With the ease of slipping in one or both wireless earbuds, students can listen to music anywhere: during class, passing periods, study hall, while driving or while doing homework.
Although music has many benefits, there are disadvantages that people overlook.
The latest Airpods by Apple can output a maximum value of about 85-105 decibels. Listening to music at these blaring decibel values for long periods of time can be detrimental to a student’s long term health.
For example, the misuse of airpods can lead to symptoms such as tinnitus and Noise-Induced Hearing Loss (NIHL).
Tinnitus is described as a ringing, buzzing or hissing sound in the ears when no external sound is present.
NIHL is hearing loss which results from damage to the nerve fibers in a person’s ears. This condition cannot be medically or surgically treated. NIHL can also cause health problems such as high blood pressure, increased heart rate, irritability and increased tiredness, etc.
Mcmillan also acknowledged the consequences of listening to loud music with Airpods. “I knew there were consequences to listening to hard beats and such, but I didn’t think they were this consequential.” McMillan expressed. “From now on, I will definitely be more aware of the volume I play my music at.”
Just like McMillan, Freshman Arush Gunukula, another avid listener of hard, loud rap, also acknowledged these negative effects. After learning this, Gunukula expressed, “That is crazy to hear, but the benefits of listening to music outweigh the damage.”
Gunukula explained, “Listening to music let’s me take my mind off my schoolwork, robotics and sports. Although it might do some damage to me long-term, my current mental health will be in better shape.”
Loud music can have many negative effects; some students might take more precautions than others, whereas some will say the benefits counterbalance the negative effects.
Ultimately, the choice of listening to loud music is decided by the students.
