Help Prevent Hearing Loss in Children

Sight, taste, touch, smell and sound are the five senses. Losing any one of them makes life more difficult and complicated. Illness and accidents are not elective. They are apart of life. But playing anything too loudly can result in ear injury and hearing loss forever.

“Unfortunately, a report released today by the Kaiser Family Foundation cites some alarming trends about excessive entertainment media consumption among our nation’s children, indirectly supporting ASHA’s concerns. This should be a warning to parents that they must regulate children’s exposure and fully understand the potential health threats associated with misuse and over exposure to such technologies.”

“ASHA will continue to bring these issues to the forefront and appreciates the Kaiser Family Foundation’s contributions to the national dialogue,” Robinson adds.

According to a 2004 study by the Kaiser Family Foundation, children were reported as being exposed to 6 hours and 21 minutes of media (TV, music, internet, etc) per day. By 2009, this statistic had increased dramatically to 7 hours and 38 minutes per day. When media multitasking is taken into account, this leaps to 10 hours and 45 minutes per day. This massive consumption of media has led to decreased grades in school and ASHA contends it puts kids at an increased risk of hearing loss.

We must talk to our kids and make them listen. Hearing loses are on the rise and the American Speech Language Hearing Association (ASHA) attributes it to the misuse of audio technology. Entertainment media plays LOUD. It’s time to understand its potential health risks. Ten hours and 45 minutes daily of media multitasking (TV, music, internet, etc.) is too much. That MP3 player, gaming device, cell phone, or laptop can be dangerous. So volume down (half the range) and quiet breaks are two simple things parents can enforce.

For more information and statistics, go to ASHA’s website and while you are at it take the 14 question yes/no Self-Test. Most people never realize it’s their hearing problem; they think someone else just isn’t speaking up.

This post is based on the views and opinions of my family and/or self. It was written as part of a public service campaign for the Global Influence Network. It has not been monetarily compensated however I have received an entry into a drawing for a gift card in exchange for my participation.