While decades pass, technology naturally evolves. Phones lose their cords, cars turn electric, and we stream movies instead of relying on cable.
But trends from the 2000s resurge after sitting on the shelf collecting dust. Whether it be the infamous dress-over-jeans statement or ultra-low rise jeans. But with the “Off and Away” phone policy, a new retro trend has come back– MP3s and Discman.
Due to the phone ban, students ask what they can do to listen to music during independent class time. They can’t risk getting the obnoxious- yellow bag using their phone or airpods, so what is there left to do?
Stafford High School’s principal, Chelsea Tryon, announced that students are permitted to use MP3 and Discman players.
“I just went by the Stafford County policy for the device policy. And what that says is bluetooth enabled devices, specifically devices that connect to the internet. So for me, if it doesn’t fit within that structure, then it should be allowed,” Tryon stated.
Now with the new MP3 policy, students can carry the portable piece of nostalgia around with them in order to listen to their favorite songs.
Daniel Reschke, Stafford’s Dean of Students said, “I like that students still have the ability to listen to music when they are completing independent assignments or sitting in the cafeteria at lunch. Also, it is funny that some students are referring to these older devices as being ‘vintage’”.
Owning an MP3 for school isn’t as easy as it sounds though. Owning one, I spent rigorous hours downloading songs onto the device, while feeling pity for the people who lived during the time of MP3 players, having to work to listen to their favorite song rather than just simply opening up Spotify to start streaming.
Tryon recalls the process about getting possession of music, talking about the transition between cassette tapes, to burned CD’s, following up now to the little computers in our pockets.
“We were able to burn CDs with a computer, only if you had that type of computer. And if that’s the case, you were like, straight bougie,” she says. “And now my own kid gets to just hit Apple Music, and listen to whatever he wants. So I do think it’s a bit nostalgic, and that sometimes in life, if you really want something, it might take a little work.”
Even though dealing with the hours of work of downloading songs onto an MP3, or having the CD jumble around in the Discman, those are significantly easier to deal with than trying to not trip over JNCO jeans.
