Deafness

There was an excellent article in yesterday's Gulf News on deafness. Anyone with a child who owns an iPod or similar will appreciate that not only is the UK heading for an obesity nightmare but these obese people of the future are also likely to be deaf or very hard of hearing well before the time that nature turns down the hearing volume for them.

 

I had a run in with young Master W a few years ago when I heard him playing his iPod at what I thought was an excessive volume level. I discussed noise, excessive noise and deafness with him and advised him that if he didn't adjust the noise level I would help him! Needless to say, a few days later I checked again and the volume was still turned up to far too high a level. I then sequestered the offending iPod for a few days to try to make the lad consider what he was probably doing to himself.

 

The lad told his mother after a couple of days that he NEEDED his iPod and asked her if she would return it to him. I had it with me in the car so she didn't know where it was!

 

I think the message in that case went unheeded but I said and did, as all parents should do, what I needed to say and do. I told him that I couldn't stop him damaging his hearing and I would do my best to help but at the end of the day, these iPod type things are dangerous and every parent has the duty to do their best to help their children in this respect.

 

Now though there is another worry on this front which is the advent of these noise reducing head phones. Try them and what you find is that virtually the only noise you can hear is what is coming from the iPod: all background noise is virtually eliminated. One way they do that is by having the ear pieces fitting very tightly into the opening of the ear canal. Now, couple noise reduction with too high a volume and I think the deafness problem can only get worse.

 

It might be seen as nannyism but parents and other adults in charge of children do have the duty of care and if that means that children need to be taught to think carefully about their actions then so be it: you've got to do it!

 

DW