This year, Spotify was banned on school Chromebooks as a way to address the Wi-Fi speeds of San Mateo High School. Not only is this solution ineffective and harmful, leading students to become more distracted and Wi-Fi speeds to slow down, but it also foreshadows a dark future for censorship through internet blocking.
Originally, the goal for blocking Spotify on school Chromebooks was to increase the speed of the Wi-Fi, but instead of increasing the speed, blocking Spotify has led to an overall decrease in Wi-Fi speed. Blocking Spotify leads students who would originally listen to music on Spotify to resort to music on YouTube, which not only takes more bandwidth – 562.5MB of data per hour on YouTube compared to 40MB of data per hour on Spotify – but also causes students to become more easily distracted. While opening YouTube in class, a student may be looking for music to listen to but can be roped into a rabbit hole of video after video each one less on task than the other, causing students to not get work done. If Spotify was not blocked on school Wi-Fi, students would be able to completely avoid the temptation of YouTube and instead focus on finding and playing music that would help them focus.
Music has been shown to help students focus and work. According to a study performed by the Stanford University School of Medicine in 2007, music, especially classical music, helps “your brain absorb and interpret new information more easily”. Since music has a positive impact on students, giving students more readily available access to music would aid students’ learning.
To resolve the pressing issue for the Wi-Fi speeds and to help students become less distracted, Spotify must be unblocked for students. Listening to music can motivate students, help their mood by alleviating stress, and increase focus.