Almost every day we encounter a class where we have the option to listen to music while we work. And almost every day we have a class where we have to slot our phones. If you are like me, I work better when I zone out from my classmates and get to work while listening to my favorite music. Locked in, focused, and ready to excel in class.

Here at Lake Forest High School, there are many websites that are blocked through our Chromebooks. Understandably, some websites include games or inappropriate content that should not be allowed on our computers, but music just shouldn’t fall under that category. Some might say a quick fix would be to just bring your own personal computer to school, but some of us don’t like to mix school with home, while others just don’t have a personal laptop. Others could argue that we can just use our phones, but with teachers requesting that we slot our phones, it can be a challenge sometimes.

Basically, the only music platform that is not blocked on our Chromebooks is YouTube. Yet YouTube requires you to remember all the songs you are currently listening to, unlike Spotify which allows you to pick a playlist and go. It actually takes more time for someone to find a good song on YouTube (that doesn’t have a wild music video so you are forced to have the lyric video) rather than listening to your own list of songs you are into at the moment.

Both students and teachers agree with me. Senior Sophia Bienkowski who doesn’t remember the last time she could use Spotify on her school computer says, “Spotify is the only reason my homework gets done. It would be awesome if the school would let me use it on my computer. That way I could procrastinate less and force myself to do my homework.” Junior Eleni Ballis mentioned, “Spotify is the only thing that gets me through the day. Pods in, music up.” Junior Emily Hart says, “It’s actually so inconvenient.” English teacher Ms. Laughlin says, “I understand where the school is coming from when it comes to blocking Spotify. It can be a distraction, but it can also be a tool for a way to focus, escape, to find inspiration, or to just calm down. I am someone who likes to listen to music, and I believe it can be skill set that becomes established.”

Spotify also doesn’t actually harm us at all. If teachers are allowed to use it to play background music in class, why can’t we use it for our own benefit? It is better than being on our phone playing music, then receiving a text, answering it, followed by scrolling through Instagram: 45 minutes later you have wasted a whole class. Let us pick a playlist from our computers and get to work.

Just please unblock Spotify!