A new study involving iPods and teenagers by the University of Colorado at Boulder and Children’s Hospital Boston says that they just might be.
It makes me crazy when one of my kids walks into the room and I can hear the music blaring out of their earbuds when they are still all the way across the room. The study revealed that teenagers seem NOT to know how loud they are actually listening to their music, which only confirms what my sons say, “What? It doesn’t seem loud to me!”
The study also showed that teen boys listen louder than teen girls, something that doesn’t surprise me.
A 2006 study, indicated a typical person can safely listen to an iPod for 4.6 hours per day at 70 percent volume using stock earphones. But listening to music at full volume for more than five minutes a day using stock earphones increased the risk of hearing loss in a typical person
The good news is that only a small majority of teens appear to listen to their music regularly at risky levels.
It would be great if iPods and other MP3 players had a visual indicator that displayed when the volume was being played in the risky area, over 70% of the volume. I would think that if teenagers understood the implications of hearing loss, combined with a visual reminder, that they would be less likely to listen to their music at ear damaging levels.
NO!!!
Comment by Anonymous — March 13, 2009 @ 1:55 pm
I think the answer lies in the question, of course they do. Before the MP3 players and Ipods teenagers were either listening to radio, record players and tape decks just the same. I know I did. The question is do they actually care at that age. The only thing that we were bothered about was make up, boys and listening to that loud music we called chilling. However as a parent to a teenager now I have to admit its not a case of it being to loud, more a case of boom,boom,boom through the walls and floorboards vibrates through the eardrums or is it just a case of forgetting what we were like ourselves.
Comment by Carol — March 20, 2009 @ 8:25 am
I’m 15 (16 in January) and I listen to my ipod an awful lot, I do admit that one of my biggest fears is going deaf so I try to keep my music at a decent level but I like to hear the words in the songs so sometimes I have it a little louder than normal. I absolutely hate having my music too loud; I think that on average I have my volume around 60% but its hard to tell because nothing tells you on the ipod. I would love it if ipods did warn you about the where the risky area is.
Comment by Anonymous — December 3, 2009 @ 3:23 pm
I feel the same way, I’m doing a Cause and Effect paper for English on music being played too loud, and it’s true. Almost all my friends listen to their music really loud. I prefer not too because I don’t want to become deaf. I do listen to my MP3 player a lot but never way too loud. This site helps me a lot for my paper thanks!
Comment by Anonymous — February 18, 2010 @ 2:52 am