Maybe We Should Stop Wearing Headphones on the Mall

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Wearing headphones can prevent good and fruitful conversation, a staple of Mall culture. Photo by Amelia Ebent.

The Case for an Unplugged Mall Culture

I was walking on the Mall one afternoon, coming back from a study session in Braniff with my earbuds in, playing my favorite tunes. There’s something I really enjoy about listening to music while strolling about campus, but not when someone calls my name and I don’t hear it. 

How embarrassing it is when my friend tries to talk to me, but her voice is completely drowned out by the sounds from my earbuds! She might think I’m simply ignoring her, especially if she can’t tell I have them in. And, well, maybe I am. 

Perhaps the act of putting my earbuds in when I know I’m going to be in a public gathering place inadvertently demonstrates that my intention is to be wholly absorbed in what’s coming from whatever is in the place of privilege. 

In that moment, even if I didn’t say I wanted to be left alone, my actions communicated that to those around me. If I hadn’t had earbuds in, I would have heard my friend, and we could have struck up a conversation.

There have been several articles in the paper this semester about the new outdoor dining and smoking policies and even the new renovations in the Cap Bar, most of them mourning the loss of certain aspects of “Mall Culture.” There are sulking sentiments among UD students these days that something has changed, and not for the better, about the way we congregate and spend time together on campus. 

Regardless of intention, I believe that wearing headphones while on the Mall or walking to and from classes further damages UD’s “Mall Culture.” If we want to revive and rejuvenate it, we should do something about this problem. 

I make an appeal to all of us who are grumpy and unhappy about the current state of the Mall to find ways to make it better. Although it may seem small and inconsequential, choosing to not plug in the moment one leaves one’s dorm room can have a profound effect on daily life and social interaction.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a conservative on the use of technology. Technological progress is an indifferent thing, and each new invention advances what we can do with our limited time and resources.

By all means, listen to music or podcasts when you’re bored, on long road trips or for your own private enjoyment! Headphones were an extraordinarily revolutionary invention at the time, and the minds who came up with such a thing should be celebrated. 

But understand that there is a way of using these tools in a way that does more harm than good. I’m not saying you have to adopt a risk-aversive mentality and take on a headphone-free lifestyle to avoid all these evils, but understand and recognize when the use of headphones is taking away from your social life. 

Wearing headphones is perfectly fine and good while studying, settling down for the night, working out or on a plane. Listening to good music and podcasts enriches the soul. However, when the headphones go on in class, in the middle of a party or otherwise when one ought to be engaging with others, it becomes a deliberate act of shutting oneself out from the outside world.

I myself have walked down the Mall during the day while waves of students are all going in or out of class, wearing my earbuds and acting like nobody else around me exists. I am not innocent of this trend on the Mall. 

However, let me speak like William Wilberforce in England, in 1784, acknowledging my guilt and taking on responsibility for reform in my community. Let me ask that we stop wearing headphones on the Mall during the day.

As I am speaking from experience, I can also pinpoint a relationship between some of my most depressive episodes and plugging in all the time. I was afraid of being alone with my own thoughts. 

When we’re afraid of silence, we plug in. It’s like an addiction. 

When we wear headphones or earbuds on the mall, we are saying with our bodies that we do not want to be spoken to. It is a social signal to defer social interaction. And no, I’m not saying that the small act of deciding not to plug in will fix everything. I do, however, believe that it can fix something. 

Our small actions can have great moral significance sometimes. And that’s precisely it: because this is a small, individual choice to make every day, unplugging is something we can do.

Bio: Beatrice Ellison is a sophomore English major. She is the vice president of the Young Americans for Freedom chapter at UD and vice president of French Club.

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