It’s everywhere you go: coffee shops, office elevators, school hallways. Your home, your job, your car—it stays with you, echoing through your head. Music has an important role in the lives of everyone, but especially students. It’s utilized in a variety of ways throughout the day, especially by the Madison population. In addition to limiting cell phones, the new cell phone policy also prohibits Airpod use in class, a common way in which students would usually listen to music throughout the day. So what happens to the student population when their access to music is cut off? 

“Honestly it’s impacted me negatively,” Lizzie Carroll (’24) said. “I prefer to do independent work with music because it helps drown out the other kids in my class.” For many, it’s difficult to focus without auditory stimulus, making it harder to enjoy doing their work. 

In an article by University of Maryland Global Campus, Phyllis Medina, program director of psychology at University of Maryland Global Campus, addresses how music can be helpful in a student’s academic endeavors. 

“Studying can be stressful, and excessive anxiety can hinder learning and memory consolidation,” Medina said. “The right choice of music, such as instrumental or ambient music, can help block out distractions, improve concentration and maintain attention during study sessions.”

However, other research shows the opposite. In an article from Texas A&M, cognitive psychologist Brian Anderson claims that music can be distracting, as multitasking is something that humans aren’t truly capable of. 

“Multitasking is a fallacy; human beings are not capable of truly multitasking because attention is a limited resource, and you can only focus on so much without a cost,” Anderson said. “So when you’re doing two things at the same time, like studying and listening to music, and one of the things requires cognitive effort, there will be a cost to how much information you can retain doing both activities.” 

“I hate it,” Madalyn Burke (’26) said, referring to student’s inability to listen to music at school. Whether it helps focus or serves as a distraction, there are still many ways that music influences students daily, and the recent changes in school policy have undoubtedly taken their toll.