Sometimes taking the bus or the train can be boring, but necessary if you’re going to work or school. This is why headphones and a good music playlist can come in handy for such rides as it helps to pass the time. However according to former UK Minister of State for Security and Counter Terrorism, Baroness Neville-Jones, maybe we should consider taking those headphones off our heads.
In case you haven’t heard, there have been recent reports of imminent terrorist threats in Europe, so much so that over in Munich, two train stations were evacuated after police received a tip-off. It is situations like this that the Neville-Jones is warning commuters about, and that by having headphones on, it might make us less alert to our surroundings.
Speaking to BBC Radio 4, Neville-Jones was quoted as saying, “I think being alert is very important. I am alarmed by the number of people I see wandering along the street entirely engaged in their mobile telephones and with their ears plugged into music and they are not aware of their surroundings. You need to be aware of your surroundings. You do have to take some personal responsibility.”
Headphones can be distracting and even if there weren’t terrorist threats, sometimes wearing headphones on the streets might distract you from other people or oncoming traffic, but what do you guys think? Is this a reasonable request?
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