If you have children, sooner or later they will ask you to purchase them headphones that they can use with their gaming systems, music players and computers. Headphones can markedly enhance kid’s experience with these learning and entertainment media, but there are a handful of characteristics you should look for when buying these headphones.
Good fit is the first thing to think about.Kid’s heads are smaller, so headphones intended for grownups will not fit them properly, and may not provide the complete range of sound. If headphones are too large, children may also end up adjusting them constantly, which might lead to damage. A number of kid’s headphones come with adjustable headbands that make the initial fitting easier, and that allow for refitting as the child grows up.
The main feature you should look for, however, is that the headphones are equipped with some kind of Sound Limiting Technology. Kids are going to want to crank the sound level up as far as they can, to a sound level that can rapidly hurt their ears and result in hearing loss. Because of this, you should restrict your possible choices for children’s headphones to the ones that don’t allow excessive volume levels, and that include preset limits that make sure they never exceed 80 to 85 decibels. This bit of advice is just as true for “ear buds” which are inserted into the ears as it is for headphones which fit over the ears.
Another thing take into consideration is durability and sturdiness, because children are hard on fragile products, and certain headphones can be very fragile . Read parents’ magazines or consumer guides to learn which brands of headphones have a good reputation for durability. Sometimes you’ll have to sacrifice a little bit of durability to get a lighter weight option. Some headphones are quite simply too heavy for kids’ heads regardless of how many additional wonderful features they have.
No matter which model headphones you go with, make an effort to restrict your children’s use of them to only a few hours daily. Being bombarded by sound all day long, even if the headphones limit the volume level, can nevertheless create subtle damage to children’s ears