Over breakfast one day in the Dining Hall, I brought up the dilemma discussed on that morning’s edition of ‘‘Morning Court,” a comedy podcast played on the radio 105.7 WROR. While some of my friends said they listen to various game shows played on the radio, a lot of them admitted they rarely listen to the radio at all. I felt sorry for them because the benefits I find from listening to the radio are not limited to the funny morning game shows. I surveyed the Upper School students and staff to see how the Dana Hall community entertains themselves during car rides.
Red = radio, Blue = bluetooth (coincidentally!) Orange = both. Smaller sections are written in responses.
The majority of Upper School students & faculty use bluetooth or a plugged in device. Now, I would like to clarify that I am not anti-bluetooth. I, too, am included in the 26.8% of the Dana community that listens to both. My goal is to simply convince readers to turn on the radio more often, and here’s why:
Listening to radio news is a fun, easy way to consume information. When they’re not playing popular songs that you probably have on your own playlists, radio stations include pop culture updates, local sports news, traffic accidents, ticking-winning competitions, and game shows that involve callers to keep listeners entertained. Not all radio stations have this type of content, however. Some radio stations are dedicated to more serious news stories or elongated interviews. Therefore, whether you are listening to an in-depth news story about political updates, or a quick story about Taylor Swift’s appearance at her boyfriend’s football game, listening to radio news can be interesting and informative.
Listening to a variety of radio stations broadens your music taste immensely. I’ve had the experience of hearing a new song on the radio and grabbing my phone to add it to a playlist. Even if you only listen to one or two radio stations, they still play a variety of songs that may be appealing.
A downside to radio listening are the commercials. Loud, fast-paced ads come on every couple of songs, motivating listeners to quickly change the station. However, this is not all bad. Switching to a station that doesn’t play your preferred music is still favorable over a commercial, and listening to a certain music genre expands your music palette even further.
As I went through the responses, I saw that most underclassmen selected that they listened to the radio or both the radio and Bluetooth, while most upperclassmen chose Bluetooth. This makes sense because upperclassmen that drive to school independently have the freedom to listen to whatever they enjoy, rather than catering to everyone else in the car. One responder even wrote this exact theory, explaining how they listen to “Radio with parents, Bluetooth with siblings, friends, or alone.”
I understand wanting to listen to one’s own music while driving alone, but I urge you all to consider turning on the radio once in a while instead. My personal favorite pop stations include 107.9 KISS (commonly known as “Kiss 108”), 106.7 WMJX (or “Magic 106.7”), 103.3 WBGB-FM (“Big 103”), 105.7 WROR (as mentioned above), and 104.1 WWBX (“Mix 104.1”). There are so many more radio stations with a wide variety of entertainment types, and I encourage you all to explore on your own!
