Listen to Your Buds

This new Listen To Your Buds initiative aims to put kids in charge of their long-term hearing health. May is Better Hearing and Speech Month.

About 1,500 Washington, DC, metro area elementary students will attend a fun and informative “Listen To Your Buds” concert with artist Billy Jonas at the George Washington University Lisner Auditorium. The event starts at 10:30 am on Wednesday, April 29th and will be emceed by “Absolutely Mindy” from Sirius-XM Satellite Radio’s Kids Place Live channel.

The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) and Parents' Choice Foundation have formed a national coalition of leading musicians who are popular with young children to promote safe usage of personal audio technology. The first "Listen To Your Buds" concert was held in Chicago in November, and the organizations plan more events for school children in Los Angeles and New Orleans later this year. Visit www.listentoyourbuds.org to see a video showing the kids’ energetic reaction to this first event.

Many kids depend on personal audio technology to listen to music, play games and talk on the phone. The technology itself is not the problem, but the length of time and volume levels may pose a threat to future hearing. A new public awareness campaign aims to educate kids to develop healthy habits before they suffer permanent hearing loss.

Did you know?...
...sustained listening to sounds over 85 decibels can cause permanent hearing loss.
…a newly announced European Union sponsored study found that listening to sounds at high volumes for more than an hour a day each week will likely cause permanent hearing loss after five years.
… that research published in August predicts that the prevalence of hearing loss in the United States will rise significantly due to the growing use of personal audio technology, among other factors.
… that a recent poll shows that more than half of high school students report at least one symptom of hearing loss.
… that you can protect your kids’ hearing by simply turning down the volume; limiting listening time; and upgrading headphones.