Walking into classrooms, what most see is students with headphones or earbuds on. Leaving the classroom most think: How can they read and study? Does it make a difference at all what they are listening to while studying?

Dependent on the student and their personality, the effects of listening to your favorite tunes while studying can vary.

“I listen to music every day, it helps me escape and live in my own world,” senior, Neishla Manzano, says. “Without music I think I won’t be doing that good of a job in most of classes”.

Studying with music could become more popular in the classroom because of the influence of the Mozart Effect. This effect states that listening to Mozart’s music may induce a short-term improvement on the performance of certain kinds of mental tasks and improve your intelligence.

“When I study, listening to music allows me to feel relaxed instead of feeling stressed.” says Neishla. “I can get frustrated and music is what helps me relax and keep going. It allows me to have a balance between music and work.”

Perhaps, students may be listening to music while studying because it improves their mood, or because they are seeing everyone else in the classroom with earphones.

“Almost all of my friends listen to music while we are in class,” senior, Andrey Andreev, says. “Sometimes I notice that my notes are more organized and focused than others.”

Comparatively, music can be very distracting and can make students feel less focused on their work. Science research has shown that students who listen to music with lyrics while completing reading or writing tasks tend to be less efficient and come away having absorbed less information.

“I prefer to do my work without listening to music because it’s very hard for me to concentrate with music,” Andreev, states. “I have seen that I perform better on tests, when I study without music.

Students need to know how to revise their work before submitting it to be graded. For some students, there may be a time and place to listen to music during the course of their revision, but not when they are learning new and complex material.

“I believe that while music may seem as a way to be less stressed and less pressured while in school,” Andreev, adds. “However in the classroom- silence is golden.”