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To Hear or Not To Hear
You Choose
By JT
Is it possible that the famous mp3 player may leave you using the unpopular
hearing aid? Research is starting to show that many children and teens who
listen to their mp3 players too loud will suffer from hearing loss in the future if
they don’t change their habits today.
Can you hear me?
As it turns out, mp3 players can make you deaf. “The number of kids with hearing
loss is dramatically increasing and the culprit seems to be noise’’, said Oregon
Health & Science University audiologist Billy Martin. Dean Garstecki, a
Northwestern University audiologist and professor, said that some students listen
to music at 110 to 120 decibels. "That's a sound level that's equivalent to the
measures that are made at rock concerts and it's enough to cause hearing loss
after only about an hour and 15 minutes." Many teenagers don’t realize that even
though they can hear now, they will feel the damage in the future.
For some teens, problems are already showing up. A recent study in the journal
Pediatrics found that 61% of teens said they experienced ringing in the ears. This
is an early sign of hearing problems.
What are they thinking?
Even though this is happening way too much, many kids are not worrying about
it. Tareek Jones, student at MS 421, loves to listen to hip hop music. “I like to
feel my music in my head. It needs to be turned up for that to happen.” Tareek is
not different than his peers who are interested in music. Band member Dan
Gorman says, “ I guess I’m listening to it like 8-9/10 of the way up which probably
isn’t great but that’s what I like to do.’’
60 -60 to the rescue
Teens can do the right thing but still have fun. One solution Dean Garstecki
suggests is the “60 percent/60 minute rule.” This means that people use their
MP3 players for no more than about an hour a day and at 60 percent of
maximum volume. "If music listeners are willing to turn the volume down further
still and use different headphones, they can increase the amount of time that
they can safely listen," Garstecki added.
Another way to save teen’s hearing is to use sensible headphones instead of the
tiny earbuds that everyone likes so much. Even though headphones are less
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popular with the fashion-conscious because they are much more visible, the
headphone solution is a safer one.
What about parents?
Parents CAN help by following these simple steps
o Parents can speak to their child about the damage mp3 players can
cause.
o If nothing works, parents can remove the mp3 player from their child for a
while.
o Parents can put a combination on the player and only let their child use it
when they are given permission.
o Parents can also put a combination on the player to prevent the volume
from going above a certain level.
Even though some of these suggestions might cause fights, it is worth the trouble
to help protect teens from hearing damage in the future.
Teens can save themselves
Teens and other mp3 player listeners can still save themselves. They can still
have fun while being cautious at the same time. A study in the Pediatrics journal
found that only 14% of teens use ear protection and few live by the 60/60 rule.
Teens should think about the ways they can save their hearing. It is not so hard
to start using headphones that have hearing protection. It is not so hard to lower
the volume. If they don’t, they won’t need their players in the future. They won’t
be able to hear the music anyway.
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