Hearing loss is the third most prevalent health condition in the United States today. Young people are at a higher risk of developing hearing loss than ever before. We live in such a noisy world these days that try as we might, we simply cannot find a quiet spot. This is why we need to instill safe listening practices into our children, friends, and family so that we can protect their hearing for their years to come.
A recent report by the World Health Organization (WHO) found that a whopping 50% of every young individual aged between 12 and 35, which amounts to approximately 1.1 billion people worldwide, is putting their auditory health at risk and is a potential candidate for noise-induced hearing damage.
It is a notorious fact that the younger generations love their loud noises. Be it loud motorcycles, loud car engines, loudspeakers, or loud voices. Everything louder just seems a lot more appealing to them because it helps drown out the stress and troubles of daily life. Unfortunately, all of these loud noises put young people at risk for developing permanent hearing loss.
There is probably a youngster somewhere who is being asked to “turn down the volume” by their parent right this instant! Even though young people hate being asked to turn down the volume on their personal audio or video devices, there is a reason why their parents ask them to, and a very valid one at that.
Ears can only take so much noise before they begin to break down and give in to hearing loss. The more time you spend listening to music on the headphones or loudspeaker, the worse your hearing gets. The louder the volumes you expose your ears to, the worse your hearing gets. The longer you spend listening to songs and movies in loud volumes, the worse your hearing gets. You get the idea; loud volumes and being exposed to them for extended periods of time leads to hearing loss.
The WHO is taking proactive steps to intervene and help in preserving the hearing of the younger generations. They will do this by developing new smart phones and audio players that can be regulated and used safely. Safe listening habits will be encouraged using these new devices. Make sure you familiarize yourself with the safe-listening guidelines to safeguard the hearing of your loved ones.
It is commonly known that young people do not like being lectured. With this in mind, it is important to approach safe listening habits in a friendly, non-intrusive manner. Have an open conversation with your young ones about the effects of hearing loss. You can even provide them with real-life statistics of the effects of hearing loss for their perusal.
Be a parent by all means, but remember to see the world through your child’s eyes. If a child wants to raise the volume, instead of blaming their behavior, think about why they want to drown out the world. Sometimes, children don’t want to listen, they want to be heard. Children nowadays are becoming increasingly isolated, thus you can talk about hearing loss by not talking about it at all! Just be there for them and let them talk about their worries openly with you. This can become a healthy alternative option to listening to loud music, and over time they may begin to realize how much better their hearing is because of it.