NIDCD Highlights
Concert Teaches Kids to Enjoy Tunes Safely
“All Together!” Award-winning recording artist Billy Jonas led the kids in an engaging, interactive sing-a-long with lyrics aimed at teaching them safe listening habits for lifelong healthy hearing.
(Photo Credit: ASHA)
“Turn It Down!” There was singing and cheering and glowstick waving as Billy Jonas and his band turned the kids’ own ideas into a catchy song about all the things they can do to protect their hearing.
(Photo Credit: ASHA)
More than a thousand first- and second-graders from 14 public and private schools in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area joined award-winning musical artist Billy Jonas and his band for an hour-long interactive concert about how to protect their hearing. The concert was held at George Washington University’s Lisner Auditorium on April 29th.
As Jonas and his band pounded out the beat and strummed the melody on instruments rigged out of reused household gadgets, kids were clapping and stomping and making up their own lyrics to a song about how to protect their hearing now, so they don’t lose it later. Their song began with a simple tip—“if the music’s too loud you’ve got to turn it down,” and ended with the reason why—“to protect your hearing so you’ll enjoy the sound.”
The concert was presented by the American Speech–Language–Hearing Association (ASHA) in collaboration with Parents’ Choice Foundation and the NIDCD, along with media sponsor Sirius XM Radio. The concert, which is part of ASHA’s “Listen to Your Buds” campaign, helped kick off Better Hearing and Speech Month, a month-long celebration by ASHA and other organizations to raise awareness of, and promote treatment for, hearing and speech disorders.
Recently, ASHA became the first organization to partner with the NIDCD's It's a Noisy Planet. Protect Their Hearing campaign, which encourages the parents of tweens (children ages 8 to 12) to teach their children about noise-induced hearing loss and how to protect their hearing for life.
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