Bluetooth speakers, we’ve all heard of them, seen them, and may even have them.

Let’s face it, these speakers are becoming a problem. Students play music through them in the halls, on buses, during lunches, and out on the track. Most of the music heard is loud, full of obscene language, and just not generally school appropriate. It also doesn’t help when students play music, which is already loud by itself, at higher volume levels on the speakers. The speakers are annoyances and distractions to students, often disrupting the flow of the school day. These speakers need to have consequences, whether they be detentions or in school suspensions.

These speakers are loud, obnoxious, and have ridiculously high bass. With most songs now having high bass levels as well, the speakers are just as loud as a fully custom car audio system. When the speakers are on and playing music, it makes it hard to hear the people even two feet away. Students shouldn’t have to talk louder than the music just to ensure the others hear them. All that causes is more, unneeded noise just because of one student and their speaker. Not only is that one problem caused by these speakers, but the other is simply distracting. If a class is in session, and a student happens to be walking the halls with a speaker, it can draw the attention of both the students and the teacher away from the lesson or work.

With bluetooth speakers not falling under the district technology policy, the most that can be done, in terms of discipline, is an after school detention. That simply doesn’t do it justice. Something needs to happen that brings the speakers into compliance with the consequences students receive for using their phones without teacher discretion. Not having a set in stone policy on bluetooth speakers is what’s causing the sense that students can freely use them whenever and wherever.

As we age, we find ourselves wanting to have the latest technology. It’s a natural response to the newest release of a phone brand or to the release of a long awaited product. Being raised in the age of technology has somewhat fed that lust, which has now found its way to the school system. Bluetooth speakers are a part of that lust, they’re constantly being advertised and their designs appeal to us.

Nevertheless, the speakers are a rising problem. Solutions can range from giving detentions to simply not allowing the use of personal technology at all, with the latter being if the situation was extreme. The whole point of allowing students to use their own technology in school is to give them more freedom, and when students find ways to exploit it, it typically does not fare well for students as a whole. We enjoy our ability to use technology, don’t let others ruin it. Oakville, turn the speakers off.