AACC students in October said they do not listen to true crime podcasts.

In an informal poll of 50 students, 31 said they do not listen even though some used to.

First-year chemistry student Alexander Stringfield said he prefers to listen to music when he’s working and he tries to “avoid as much distraction as possible, so having other people talking at the same time just doesn’t help.”

A poll by Edison Research shows AACC students are bucking a national trend. According to the research, 84% of Americans older than 13 watch or listen to true crime podcasts, TV shows or social media videos, and the numbers are growing.

Some students find the content in true crime disturbing.

“I’m just not into it,” second-year nursing student Samantha Stewart said. “It’s not really my thing. I also have a really active imagination, so it kind of freaks me out, honestly.”

Others agree they find true crime to be upsetting. “I just don’t go out of my way to listen to it,” first-year English student Corey Carrol said. “It makes me feel sick sometimes.”

The students who said they like true crime gave different reasons.

Second-year nursing student Jennifer Escolera pointed to the “motivation behind the killing and why it was done and what led to them to do it” as the interesting parts of true crime podcasts.

First-year information systems student Aliya Njoya called the podcasts interesting and informative.

“I can learn stuff from it and avoid situations,” Njoya said.

Some students said they watch true crime because they like to learn what makes killers tick.

First-year radiology student Lihue Bryant said she watches true crime because “it’s really cool” to think about “the psychology of it.”