Tech News

Many high schools have instituted zero-tolerance policies for iPods and other MP3 players, banning them from campus completely. Other schools, however, are playing with policies that allow the devices, at least in the halls and libraries. Students say music helps them concentrate, and some teachers say they could never really figure out why they were forbidden outside of class in the first place.

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Paige Martin once tried to smuggle her iPod into class, hiding the tiny earbuds beneath her shirt’s hood and enjoying a bit of the Dave Matthews Band before a math teacher confiscated the device.

Today, the Glenbrook North High School senior in Northbrook, Ill., still must tuck her iPod away during class, but she no longer has to sneak through the school hallways, cafeteria, study halls or library when wearing the mini-headphones, whose telltale wires draped off her ears.

After spending years enforcing strict bans on electronic gadgets, Glenbrook High School District 225 officials have begun experimenting with the unthinkable: They are allowing students at their Northbrook and Glenview campuses to listen to music during non-classroom hours, as long as they do not disrupt others.

“This is legal now!” exclaimed Martin, 17, who insists she is less distracted when plugged in. “iPods help me concentrate.” Turn It Off or Turn It Up?

The Glenbrook North and Glenbrook South High Schools, as well as schools in Skokie, Libertyville and Barrington, have loosened their rules concerning iPods and MP3 players at the same time that other campuses in Illinois and elsewhere are cracking down on the devices. West Chicago High School in DuPage County, for instance, will enforce a new policy next fall forbidding all electronic devices because of fear that “students are tuning into the music and tuning out of instruction,” said Supt. Lee Rieck of Community High School District 94.

Others say they worry that students will use the gadgets to cheat by downloading audio answers to test questions. At York High School in Elmhurst, officials who have allowed the MP3 players and iPods plan to re-evaluate their policy because they are concerned about players that allow for multiple uses, such as music along with phones, cameras and video.Principal’s Call

There are no statistics that show how many districts allow iPods and MP3 players, but a survey of about two dozen area high schools found that most do not. The decision is usually left to principals.

Officials at the Glenbrook schools — which, like most, still prohibit cell phone use during the school day — said they have been pleasantly surprised at how well students are handling their newfound freedom. Besides a happier student body, they found a few other unexpected perks, such as quieter libraries and study halls, where teens do homework while listening to their favorite songs.

In a typical scene, freshmen Savannah Lay, 15, and Allyson Bernstein, 15, recently strolled down a Glenbrook North hallway sharing Savannah’s iPod Nano. Connected by wires, each sported an earbud as they listened to “Here (in Your Arms)” by Hellogoodbye.

The adults who monitor the hallway say their job is a lot easier too, now that they aren’t constantly haranguing students who ignored the former ban.

“You’d get some looks, like, ‘Why? We’re not doing anything disruptive,’” said Jack Jost, a Glenbrook North employee. “I didn’t have a good answer. It was the rule.”

Dean Bill Eike said the school has, perhaps coincidentally, received fewer reports of lost or stolen electronics since allowing the iPods over this past semester. A dean’s advisory group initially recommended that they try out a new policy, agreeing that students were bringing them to school anyway.Student Council Action

A similar trial period began in April at Glenbrook South in Glenview, after the Student Council formally proposed a more lenient policy and presented a petition signed by more than 300 students.

The students came up with the proposal after touring other high schools for an unrelated project. Colin Burgee, 16, a junior, was visiting Niles West High School in Skokie when he observed students openly wearing their iPods.

At first, Student Council members debated how to pitch the idea to administrators, even briefly considering a proposal that called for students to listen to classical music only.

“But we had this picture in our heads of deans asking to hear what we’re playing,” said Student Council President Pat Cascarano, 18, with a grin, admitting that idea was dropped.

Officials said they aren’t interested in trying to monitor the students’ music to determine whether it is appropriate or not. When asked what they listen to, some teens cited rock, hip-hop or rhythm and blues.

“For me and a lot of my friends, it de-stresses us. Listening makes everything better,” said Alison Miller, 18, a senior.

Glenbrook South Principal Brian Wegley said his fear was that students would stop socializing and that everyone would show up plugged into their music machines. So far, he has found fewer students use them than expected, and he believes them when they say that they can study effectively while listening to music.

“A couple of students need to be reminded to take them off in class,” Wegley said. “But from what I understand, students have respected the rules. This is part of their life, and they’ve learned to use them.”iPod Manners

What has emerged are interesting examples of iPod etiquette. Students avoid disturbing classmates at lunch if they appear to be studying and have both earbuds plugged in, Cascarano said. When addressed by others, teens lift a hand to one ear to remove one earbud, leaving the other in to hear.

“It’s like with my own kids I have at home,” Wegley said. “I just point to their ears and they pop [the earbud] out. It’s the universal sign that we need to talk.”

Officials say they are not worried about students cheating, because the students may not use the players in class. The schools also prohibit technology that allows users to watch videos or play games.

At Niles West, Principal Dale Vogler said the school librarian was one of the strongest advocates for lifting the iPod ban.

“To be perfectly honest, I was against it,” said Vogler, who started allowing the devices at the end of last school year and now expects to allow them as permanent policy. “The biggest faculty complaint or concern is getting the kids to understand the boundaries. When they enter a classroom, it goes off.”

She has warmed up to the idea, but others question the effect on a student’s hearing and academic performance. Dr. Thomas Cottle, a clinical psychologist and professor at Boston University’s School of Education, said that music may help some teens concentrate or relax. However, because everyone’s brain is wired differently, the players may not work out so well for others.

“For some kids it may be the most efficient way to learn,” he said. “There may be other kids who feel better and may dupe themselves into thinking that because they feel better they learn better. … Only a student will be able to find that out for himself. If the grades are going down or not improving, you have to look at study habits and styles.”

Martin says she gets B’s and C’s and is certain that the iPod is more help than hindrance.

“I love my iPod,” Martin said. “It’s like my life.”