The Big Apple has long had a reputation for crime, even if in recent years thatis anything but the case. More recently, New York City developed a reputation for being iPod City, with tell-tale white earphones dotting the landscape from Brooklyn to The Bronx. Now, however, city students have fallen victim to an increasing number of iPod muggings.

A South Brooklyn transit officer reported a near doubling of student iPod robbers on subways in recent months, The New York Post reported Tuesday. One week ago, a high school student required 44 stitches after being stabbed for his iPod on a Q train.

To combat the increase in iPod-related crime, transit cops started distributing flyers last week offering to engrave studentsi iPods and cell phones with iD numbers but canned the plan after schools said both items are typically prohibited from being in class due to the distraction they create.

"We donit want it to be misinterpreted as encouraging bringing banned items to school," said NYPD spokesman Paul Brown.

For now, the best solution is probably just to swap out those white earphones for a more standard pair, which leaves would be thieves in the dark as to whether theyire connected to a $500 iPod or a $20 CD player.