From 24-hour Lofi streams to “Study With Me” TikToks, SCHS students embrace different types of media to keep them motivated while studying. Go-to study playlists, background noise and romanticizing social media are becoming increasingly popular.
When senior Folayemi Shonibare needs to get work done, she seeks out calmer music. Artists like Dominic Fike, Daniel Caesar and Lana Del Rey are featured on her “Study Music” playlist as they are relaxing and allow her to focus.
“When I want to study, I need music that has fewer words and has a chiller vibe,” Shonibare said. “I can’t have a lot of different or addicting noises that can trigger me to start vibing to the music and stop doing my homework.”
Sophomore Irina Bohidar uses white noise instead of music when she studies. The white noise helps her strike a balance between silence and too much noise.
“It gets too quiet at my house, so a little bit of background noise actually helps me study since during tests it’s not always quiet,” Bohidar said.
While students may find benefits in using music to aid their studying, librarian Jonathan Wilson worries that the constant presence of devices may do more harm than good.
“I do think, unfortunately, that it is the start of a slippery slope that leads to more distracting phone usage,” Wilson said.
In contrast, Bohidar mentioned that playing music through apps such as YouTube provides a physical barrier from distraction so she can avoid interruptions. Sticking to one app minimizes Bohidar’s temptation to open social media.
“The music makes me more productive because it’s on a playlist and I can’t exactly switch to another app. Usually, I listen to it on YouTube,” Bohidar said. “It helps me not use Instagram or other apps.”
Shonibare agrees with Bohidar that music helps her tune out distractions at home and focus on her homework. She believes that without music, the constant background noise would make it difficult to concentrate.
“I feel like there’s a lot of distractions in the home, like my mom’s cooking, or my brother playing video games, or the TV,” Shonibare said. “It’s loud, and there are a lot of different sounds. To tune that out, I need a different type of noise and just that noise.”
With a different objective in mind, art teacher Neil Woodman utilizes music to create a barrier in his classroom between academics and creativity. He described how the music helps students transition into a creative mood.
“I started playing it every day when they entered to let them know this is a different environment. It’s not the outside environment. It’s a different, more artistic environment,” Woodman said. “That’s worked out real well.”
Woodman finds that the music can be a powerful tool to keep his students in the right mentality. He believes, however, that students looking to study should be conscious of the influences that music has on them.
“Be careful. Music is a way to pump yourself up. It changes your mentality and your attitude,” Woodman said. “People listen to aggressive music to exercise, more peaceful music before they go to sleep, or stimulating music while they study. You don’t want to play angry music before you go to sleep. I would just be careful with what you’re putting in there.”
Recognizing the effects of music on students, Shonibare described that students can find ways to make studying more enjoyable through soundtracks.
“It’s great because studying can be really boring in the moment, so romanticizing everything, it makes it more aesthetically pleasing to do. It makes it easier to do, more entertaining and interesting, just anything different from the traditional classroom,” Shonibare said.