According to a study commissioned by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA), more than half of high school students surveyed report at least one symptom of hearing loss. This study was not only aimed at establishing the usage of audio devices like Apple’s iPod and portable DVD players through ear buds or headphones by high school students, but also probed the public’s views about potential hearing loss from such devices. The figures show that high school students are more likely than adults to say they have experienced three of the four symptoms of hearing loss, such as turning up the volume on their TV (28 percent students vs. 26 percent adults); saying “what” or “huh” during normal conversation (29 percent students vs. 21 percent adults); and having tinnitus or ringing in the ears (17 percent students vs. 12 percent adults).
Even more disturbing is that less than half of high students (49 percent) say they have experienced none of the symptoms, compared to 63 percent of adults. Two-fifths of students and adults set the volume at loud on their Apple iPods, with students twice as likely as adults to play it very loud (13 percent vs. 6 percent). However, adults are more likely than students to use their MP3 players for longer periods of time, which may simply reflect time commuting to and from work. In any case, it’s clear that high volume levels – regardless of the source – can do damage to hearing. We’ve been known to kick up the volume on our favorite songs ourselves, but you can bet we’ll think twice in the future.