By Abigail Mason
Many teachers and students at McNicholas use music as a part of their environment because they feel it helps promote beneficial factors for themselves and their classes learning, and for better focus and work.
Through a recent survey, over 60 students shared that music creates a focused environment, boosts their mood, makes the work less dull, and provides helpful background noise. “For me, working in silence almost distracts me. It’s too quiet and my brain focuses on the silence, and my thoughts tend to run more. With music, I seem to focus better,” stated sophomore Kourtney Marcum. Students also added that it can be helpful outside of school. According to the National Association for Music Education, “Music listening offers significant cognitive, emotional, social, and physiological benefits that can enhance well-being, helping students build mental and emotional management skills as they develop that extend beyond the classroom.”
English teacher Mr. Robert Cornwell said, “If music doesn’t have words, I’m able to focus and get into the zone and center on the thing I’m trying to do.”
“[Music] blocks out the distractions in my brain when I have music playing it’s just the song running through my head and I don’t get distracted anymore and I can get my work done,” freshman Sophia Trauth said.
Some teachers allow students to choose their own music during work times in classes like art, English, theology, Spanish, French, theatre, music classes, and Modern American History. Some teachers do recommend listening to music that is calmer to have more focus-oriented work. Art teacher Ms. Indigo Hudepohl said that music “is helpful for creating some intentional background noise.” Hudepohl added that she thought that “silence can make you feel self-conscious.”
Sophomore Owen Flora said that listening to music while working is “a delicate balance. If I like the music too much I get distracted from the work. If I dislike the music, it has no benefits but somewhere in between, music can help make a more enjoyable environment and help me get my work done.”
“It keeps me positive and it’s fun to sing along,” freshman Joshua Debrosse said. Students said that it helps make the work more enjoyable, makes them more productive, keeps the work entertaining, and helps them become more willing to get their work done. Junior Brogan Mountel said that music “helps me stay on task because it’s stimulating my brain but not getting in the way of my work. It gives me less distractions because it keeps the monotonous work from getting too boring.”
Junior Grace Tierney agreed that music in the classroom is helpful for staying on task. “I genuinely enjoy [Mr. Spurlock’s] music taste; it’s pretty similar to the music that I used to study and do tasks. It helps me focus and keep a better mood.”
“Every student learns differently, and I think some students can learn better through music. It’s a tool that can be very effective,” English teacher and Department Chair Mrs. Angie Noble said.
Even when provided with the choice of their own music, some students choose not to listen. The main reasons include that it can be distracting when completing work, it isn’t helpful to have it in the background of their work, and because they may not want to listen to it while completing work. Sophomore Mila Matarazzo stated that she “likes that we can have a little sense of freedom, but I don’t use the opportunity of listening to music in class a lot.”
Cornwell expressed, “While music can be this really good centering tool, if used incorrectly, it could become a distraction by itself.” Even though students find their own music helpful, it can become a disruptive aspect of work.
Both freshman Sarah Rinaudo and junior Riley Bausch agree with Cornwell. “Listening to music makes me hate doing work less. It also allows me to tune out [the] business of everything else,” Rinaudo said. Junior Riley Bausch added, “It’s motivating and helps me work better because it relieves stress for myself and the class.”
In the end, music is a widely used resource to keep students and teachers focused on their work in school and outside of school, with known benefits.
The McNicholas Milestone 