Want a good investment
tip? Hearing aids. It's definitely a growth industry and
the long-term prospects are getting better all the time.
Not only are the baby boomers experiencing age-related hearing
loss, but our kids are going deaf.
If you've been to a movie lately you know what I'm talking
about. It's not your imagination. Those flicks are getting
louder. The average decibel level for movies is now about
one hundred. An action movie jacks up the sound to 120 dBs.
But our ears aren't built for that level of noise. Our ears
work best at 85dBs and lower. What happens at 120 dBs? With
as little as thirty minutes of exposure we start risking
permanent hearing loss.
It wouldn't be a big deal if it were just an occasional
loud movie assaulting young ears. But of course, it's not.
Kids who attend rock concerts, hang out in arcades, or just
listen to their favorite CDs with the volume turned up are
all way over the 85 dBs threshold. The electronic world
is getting louder and louder. Half of the loudest sounds
around us have appeared in the last ten years.
Kids will tell us to chill, of course, because they can
hear just fine. They can for now. Hearing loss is cumulative
and gradual, so damage done by the Discman won't show up
for years. By the time it does, the ringing in their ears
will be constant and the hearing loss irreversible.
So what's a parent to do? For starters, we should tone
down the volumes that we can control. If kids are using
headphones, the volume is too high if anyone else can hear
it. Of course, it's easier to monitor sound levels for the
younger ones. Getting preteens and teens to take hearing
loss seriously is another matter. While we don't want to
keep them from the fun, it is worth giving some talk time
to the risk of hearing loss. Nothing preachy, just the truth.
Things like loud music damage hearing. You can't tell it's
happening until it's too late. By the time you notice the
ringing in the ears or trouble hearing, the damage is done
and irreversible. Then give them and their friends sets
of earplugs. Give them several sets. Tell them that more
and more musicians are wearing them. Then tell them the
choice is theirs.
