When Headphones Are Not Appropriate in Public

Say it’s a regular day. I’m walking around campus, and I see a bunch of people pass by. Out of all the people I see, almost half of them are wearing many types of headphones like AirPods. 

I’ve seen people with headphones everywhere in public. I see them in cafes doodling in sketchbooks. That’s fine. But then I see them in classes when students should be paying attention to the professor. I see people sneak in earbuds so only one is visible where no one can see it closely. I see people wear headphones when driving when they should be 100% focused on the road. I even saw a woman with AirPods in a restroom! A restroom where people are using the toilet. Seriously? Do you think that was necessary? Can’t you listen to your music later?

Despite everything I mentioned above, that is not the focus of this article. I get it. Headphones are cool. I wear my AirPods at home, too. I wear them on trains and cars. I’m writing this article simply because when you put the headphones in, it’s a call to disconnect yourself from society. 

You automatically lose control of your surroundings and instead focus on whatever you are listening to. I remember I was trying to talk to someone wearing headphones, and I had to call her name three times so she could hear me. I’m guilty of this, too. 

Especially when a runner puts headphones on when running, that is when I get concerned. For example, I see a lot of solo female runners do this. Growing up, as a woman, I was always told to be fully alert if I was outside alone. This obviously meant no headphones. Why? Because creepy people lurk outside. If they are stalking you, you would not be able to tell because you’re jamming away to a new hit. 

Unfortunately, the likelihood of a pedestrian getting into an accident wearing headphones is likely. Especially with noise-canceling headphones, you literally hear nothing from the outside world. It’s scary. It’s like a new dimension that feels surreal. 

Trigger warning: mention of death

There is one particular case my mom showed me a while ago. It was the story of a woman who was walking to work. She put some headphones in during her walk. She was crossing an intersection with a train track. When she was crossing, a train was approaching. It blared its horns many times, but she didn’t hear a single one. The train ended up running the woman over, and she died.

Shortly after her death, her stepfather created a slogan called #OneEarOut to alert people to the dangers of wearing headphones in public. This literally means that one ear should be out to be attentive to the outside world, at the very least. 

This is a story I will never forget. It was shocking. It sent shivers down my spine. Now, my mom sends me messages every now and then about news and how we should be careful. But this story stuck with me to this day. And I wanted to share the importance of it with you all, too. 

This is not just about trains. It can be about cars. About bikes. Or anything that puts you in danger, really. Sadly, there are many examples of this tragedy of someone being run over while wearing headphones just because they did not hear a horn that could have saved their lives.

I am not saying this to ban headphones entirely. I am saying that if you want to put headphones on, think about if this is a safe place to do so. If you know you will be safe, and if you know you are in a protected area, then you do you. 

• #awareness
• #safety
• campus safety
• headphones
• public