Death by karaoke

Military op-eratives in the United States have recently deployed its latest secret weapon in the war against terror: Barney the Dinosaur. The famous purple and green Tyrannosaurus Rex loved by children all over the world is now battling it out with the Al Qaeda. His mission for the US military is simple enough. Just really loudly sing his I Love You song (“I love you, you love me — we’re a happy family...”) again and again to captured terrorists in enclosed interrogation cells until they break down. You would think that they would only use heavy metal rock for this unique interrogation technique. But their “torture playlist” also includes seemingly innocent songs by Neil Diamond, Christina Aguilera, the Bee Gees, and Barney. I suppose that it does not really matter what kind of music you use so long as you play it often and loud enough. I actually have somewhat of a first-hand experience. For just outside our subdivision walls, some nuts have been incessantly subjecting us to high-decibel karaoke renditions of all of Michael Jackson’s hits. After several earsplitting hours of Billie Jean, I was crying to reveal the location of Osama bin Laden’s secret cave in Afghanistan. 

Actually, it’s probably more accurate to say that the US military is subjecting suspected terrorists to extremely elevated noise levels rather than to music. Nevertheless, whatever they call it (some have referred to it as “no-touch” torture or “torture lite”), it’s still torture and there is no justification for it. Yet if there is another disturbing development in the 21st century, it is how modern society has become way too loud. You don’t have to be an inmate in Guantanamo Bay to have your hearing senses assaulted. The fact of the matter is that noise pollution is now a serious everyday problem for all of us. 

The word noise actually comes from the Latin word nausea meaning seasickness. The intensity or “loudness” of noise is measured on a modified decibel scale called dBA. It is important to note that the decibel scale is not linear but logarithmic. Every 10 dBA increase in sound intensity is actually a ten-fold increase. The sound intensity of 20 dBA is not twice as loud as a sound intensity of 10 dBA, but is 10 times as loud, and a sound intensity of 30 dBA is 100 times as loud as a sound intensity of 10 dBA. The threshold of hearing is 10 dBA. A “quiet” school library would be about 40 dBA whereas EDSA at rush hour might be at 70-80 dBA. Many people find noise levels above 60 dBA to already be annoying and irritating. Prolonged exposure to levels higher than 85dBA is generally considered to be harmful and can cause hearing damage. 

In 1999, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported, “Worldwide, noise-induced hearing impairment is the most prevalent irreversible occupational hazard and it is estimated that 120 million people worldwide have disabling hearing difficulties.” Noise exposure causes not just hearing impairment; it can also lead to stress, hypertension, heart problems, sleep disturbance, anti-social behavior, and decreased school performance. Some studies are now even looking at possible links to birth defects and lower immune systems. The problem is also not just limited to adults working in the industrial and commercial sectors. All of us are at risk. Children, in particular, have been found to be more susceptible to the impact of noise. The table below shows just how vulnerable our children are to dangerous noise levels:

According to Noise Free America (NFR), a nonprofit organization dedicated to fighting noise pollution, parents need to be alarmed over the fact that their children are being exposed to noise levels that may hurt their hearing. One study involving kindergartens in Europe actually found some of them to have average noise levels over 85 dBA! Even some toys can be harmful. It is incomprehensible why the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) actually allows toys to produce “impulsive” noises of up to 138 dB which is equivalent to a jet taking off! Most teenagers think that they’re invincible and that only old people develop hearing problems. Dr. George Alexiades of the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary says, however, that teenagers who crank up their iPods or MP3 players to “more than 60 percent of their maximum volume, and listen to music for more than an hour, are asking for acoustic trauma … and are at risk of suffering hearing loss similar to that of aging adults.” When I watched a UAAP game with my son and sat near the band, the deafening sound made us both feel physically ill that we had to move. I also don’t know why restaurants and malls think that blaring music is conducive to eating and shopping.

Indeed, the world has become such a noisy place that I think we parents owe it to ourselves and to our children to bring some quiet into our lives. But I also think that we must not just be on guard against devices and situations that might expose our children to dangerous noise levels. As the NFR notes, even when it is not so loud, unwanted sound can still be harmful. They explain, “Homes can be very noisy places. Blaring stereos and televisions, shouting voices, and loud appliances create a home environment that can be harmful to the child’s development.” 

We thus also need to be good role models and tone down not just the television set or the radio, but our own voices as well. We should also make an effort to plan and encourage more quiet entertainment for our kids such as reading, arts & crafts, and visits to parks and museums. These activities might even help improve our relationships with our children. Collectively, it might also calm down a bit this world of ours that seems to think that something has to be loud to be fun and exciting. But as the prophet Elijah found out, the sound of silence can be much more powerful...

“Then the Lord said, ‘Go outside and stand on the mountain before the Lord; the Lord will be passing by.’ A strong and heavy wind was rending the mountains and crushing rocks before the Lord — but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake — but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake there was fire — but the Lord was not in the fire. After the fire there was a tiny whispering sound. When he heard this, Elijah hid his face in his cloak and went and stood at the entrance of the cave.”

(1 Kings 19: 11-13)

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