AirPods: Have They Become a Problem?

Listen up!// Walking around these days, it’s impossible not to find people, especially teenagers, walking around with an AirPod in their ear while listening to music or trying to block out noise from the outside world. While the act of listening to music or trying to focus may seem harmless, the devices people are using to do so might be more damaging than they appear to be. (Photo by Jenai Atherall)

According to a survey conducted by a research platform called Bloomberg Intelligence, 62% of the Gen Z population in the United States owns AirPods, and that percentage of people is expected to continue for not just Gen Z, but all generations as the years progress. At over half of the entire population of a single generation, AirPods have undoubtedly become popular, but the question is: is it good to use them frequently?

The truth is, this question is very multifaceted. This is due to the fact that, to figure out if AirPods are bad for those who use them, you have to think beyond the health aspect. Beyond all the issues mentioned thus far, another quite prevalent issue that has been coming to the surface in recent years is the issue of the impact on health from AirPods. According to the Furman University of Scholar Exchange, their research showed that AirPods, amongst other Bluetooth devices, were linked to possible health risks like the permeation of the blood-brain barrier. In simpler terms, when you weaken the protective barrier and disrupt your immune system, you risk causing serious, long-term problems by leaving your brain dangerously vulnerable. This is just one example of many issues that the overuse of AirPods may cause. 

Other factors include pricing/consumerism, social isolation, amongst many others. While there are pros and cons to each side, when looking at the bigger scheme of the issues and statistics, the cost of using AirPods far outweighs the benefits. 

Based on the pricing shown on the Apple Store, at the cheapest, base models of AirPods begin at $129 and for very high-quality models, can reach the cost of $249 and unless you buy these second-hand, this is the least costly option you are going to find. While some people argue that the quality of the AirPods is worth the price, it really begs a deeper question as to the issue of consumerism that often arises with these kinds of products. While the quality might be cost-equivalent, with people constantly chasing after the newest model and spending their money on something that might eventually go out of style, it’s important to be careful about how much, but also where, money is being spent. 

Another issue with AirPods and their use is the social isolation they create. The whole point of AirPods is that they are supposed to give people a convenient way to listen to things like music, podcasts, etc., without the issue of outside noise. However, while this can be a great thing, it equally causes everyone who is using them to, in a sense, constantly be in their own worlds. This, in turn, can separate people and block people from human connection. Similar to how phones and the addiction to them have led to social isolation over the years, the use of AirPods can worsen this problem. 

Another potential issue that may arise with the use and overuse of AirPods is the worsening conditions of classrooms. This goes hand-in-hand with social isolation, as the issue of everyone being in their own world branches beyond the struggle for human connection into learning spaces. Students, particularly high schoolers and middle schoolers who tend to have access to things like AirPods, may be less engaged with their learning environments. Teachers are doing their best to regulate the problem, but in reality, there are not really any district-wide restrictions regarding AirPods, and that lack of regulation is leading to a monster of a distraction in classrooms. 

While caveats to this argument do exist, in the sense that it comes down to the person using them and the fact that AirPods provide a higher-quality option to other things like earbuds, those two benefits simply do not outweigh the setbacks that can arise from using AirPods by and large. While AirPods and the use of them are not inherently bad, it is important that students ask themselves how they are using them, how much they are using them, and why they are using them?