Children 'will turn off music if they need to concentrate on their studies'

Researchers at the Institute of Education, University of London, have found that while teenagers may spend hours listening to mp3 players, most are willing to switch it off if it interferes with their schoolwork.

The study surveyed 600 young people in the UK, the US, Greece and Japan, asking students in three age groups – aged 12, 16-18 and 20 – about their listening habits.

They were asked if they played music while revising for exams, writing, memorising texts, reading, doing coursework, solving problems, thinking

or learning a foreign language, as well as about the effects that music had on their studying and why they decided to listen to music or work in

silence.

Many said they played music to relax, alleviate boredom and to help concentration, while most said they turned off the music if they felt that it was interfering with their concentration.

The study, due to be published in a forthcoming issue of Educational Studies, says: "Overall, students do not play music while studying extensively and that they rarely play music while revising for examinations, memorising material or learning a foreign language and most often play music when thinking or writing."