Headphones are a great gift item for grandchildren at any time of the year. We grandparents know how it is sitting in a car with grandchildren on electronics competing with radio listening, or at home competing with television, and so do their parents.
We hear the parents of our grandchildren repeating more often than not “lower the volume.” Or, “put on the headphones.”
But, are we paying as close attention to the volume when the headphones are being used? This Grandma is learning that this is most important, more important than getting fashionable and expensive Beats that our grandchildren covet. The previous only issue with Beats was to whether to buy wireless or not. This Grandma has written about Beats in previous posts because the grandchildren wanted them: Over the . . .Top Luxurious Holiday Gifts Grandchildren Would Love.
The title of The New York Times article, December 6, 2016, “Children’s headphones May Come With Risk of Hearing Loss” gives us the why to buy new award winning headphones for our grandchildren that protect hearing by limiting decibels available to the listener. The author, Catherine Saint Louis, quotes doctors who say manufacturers may not be accurate as to the safety of headphones, that hearing loss in children and teens seems to be rising, so independent studies are important. We know very young children are using headphones, and the recommendation is that there is no substitute for parental supervision….and purchasing the safest headphones we can find. We grandmas have to be concerned with all grandchildren, toddlers and up who will use headphones. This Grandma checked Beats and other reviews of both recommended headphones and significant feature of the two recommended for toddlers and children was the decibel limitation of 85. One review, included that
“According to the Hearing Health Foundation, 20 percent of American teenagers–and 50 million Americans total–suffer from hearing loss, and noise-induced hearing loss is a major culprit. This type of hearing loss can be caused by a single exposure to an extremely loud noise like an explosion, but it can also be caused by “long or repeated exposure to sounds at or above 85 decibels.”
This Grandma is now paying attention to more than fashion or desire of grandchildren, especially with Beats and other headphones, as the emphasis is on studies that prolonged exposure to loud music, especially through headphones, definitively causes hearing loss. It’s considered safe listening to music at 85 decibels or lower. Beats go up to a 115-decibel peak, supposedly volumes one might reach on a very loud train, and there are reports that if our grandchildren just listen on headphones only 15 minutes every day at that level, they could experience severe hearing loss, as at continued use at such high decibels, the inner ears’ hair-like fibers, called stereocilia, which are responsible for activating frequencies of particular sounds, can be permanently damaged over time. In addition to such high decibel use hearing loss, our grandchildren can get tinnitus or buzzing in the ears. Going to a loud concert can cause that effect after a night of loud listening to loud music. Although the buzzing in the ears may be gone after the concert, listening to loud music repeatedly can cause damaging effects that last. If we buy Beats, we now have to be very concerned as to supervision of the decibel level, and this Grandma does not know if that is realistic. But, likely the parents of our grandchildren are like us, and until now did not know Beats go to 115 decibels and what that means!
The New York Times article led me to the new study done on headphones for children and a recommendation for the best and supposedly safest in this electronics age where it seems headphones are perpetually connected to even our toddler grandchildren’s heads. This Grandma always tries to investigate the source of information. The Wirecutter, a product recommendations website owned by The New York Times Company, does independent research of gadgets.
On their website it says:
“The choices we’ve made here with our team took weeks or months of research and testing, including interviews and data from the best editorial and user sources around, and the help of engineers, scientists, and experts. Most of the items we choose here aren’t top-of-the-line models that are loaded up with junk features or overpriced; most of the ones we’ve picked are of the “great enough” variety, because this is generally where our needs and the right prices smash into each other.”
Their recommendations check out on other websites. You can get both recommended children’s headphones at Amazon, where they are listed as multiple award winners. Here is The Wirecutter’s recommendation for best children’s headphones.
Puro BT2200
“If you have a kid in your life who needs a pair of headphones, the Puro BT2200 is the best option to protect growing ears. After putting in around 80 hours of research-including speaking to experts at the WHO, CDC, and NIDCD, seriously considering more than 50 models of kids headphones, and testing and measuring the top 30 contenders for 59 hours across several days-we’re confident that the Puro BT2200 is the best choice. The Puro headphones not only met our volume-limiting test standards but also were the only pair liked by both the toddlers and the big kids who helped us test. They support Bluetooth (which can provide more effective volume limiting than traditional headphone tech), but they also work corded (so you can use them with lots of devices), and they sound good enough for adults to use, too.”
They picked these because the headphones remain within safe listening levels–when used properly, of course, and, second, because the children liked wearing them. They rated highly because of the wireless design, the 18 hours on a charge, the aluminum rather than a plastic frame, and that they will last a long time because they fit kids from 2½ to 11 years comfortably.
On Amazon Puro BT2200 is rated #1 new release, at 4 1/2 stars. Comes in black, blue, white/silver, purple. Buy here.
Onanoff BuddyPhones Explore If you want wired headphones their number two pick is a third of the price, but is for toddlers ages 2-4, (on Amazon says from age 1 1/2), Onanoff BuddyPhones Explore. They come in a variety of bright colors and are lightweight, but grandchildren will grow out of them quickly as they are small size, And they report that “the sound quality isn’t as great as that of our pick, and passive volume limiting isn’t as safe as Bluetooth.”
On Amazon, the review of Onanoff BuddyPhones Explore shows in pictures and text how they are appropriate for the youngest listeners, and are rated 4 1/2 stars. Buy at this site.
Even if the grandchildren already have headphones, these new recommended headphones with decibel limitation as a holiday gift is a gift of safety, as much as we grandparents can provide it for our electronics age grandchildren. Since the recommendations stop at preteen, Beats may still be the option for preteens and teens, so long as we give the parents of our grandchildren the warning that they must supervise listening to 85 decibels. Giving the parents a copy of this blog post with the new headphones for such warning, and when the parents complain that the grandchildren already have headphones, will explain it all for them.
Joy,
Mema
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