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| Yes | 60% | 108 votes | Total: 179 votes | |
| No | 40% | 71 votes |
Yes
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Add to FavoritesUp on Fremont Peak, a woman walked to the next campsite to ask, "Could you turn your radio down a little?"
The man she addressed looked up from his card game and threw her a gappy smile as he responded cheerfully, "Don't you like my music?"
She didn't like his music. Not at the stoplight, not in the subway, not blasting though the walls of the house next door. She especially didn't like it in a campground, with the soft wind in the leaves and the birds quite possibly singing.
Maybe he played his Country-music station so loud because he was hearing-impaired. Former President Clinton is, from years of listening to blasting music. (There's a reason they're called Boomers.) It's a vicious cycle, with increased volume bringing increased deafness bringing increased volume. This generation has a rate of hearing loss two and a half times that of their grandparents.
Other people's music may be one of the most noticeable forms of noise pollution, but there are others as harmful. In cities, we are constantly exposed to traffic noise, airplane noise, and machinery noise-to the point that we don't even hear it anymore. Yet scientists say even unnoticed noise can do us harm.
People forced to live in loud environments are more prone to hypertension and heart disease. The assault of noise keeps their bodily defense systems constantly turned on, an unhealthy situation. In the same way, noise may promote sleep disorders, according to the World Health Organization. If you've listened to the party next door, you know loud music promotes sleep disorders. It's a stressor.
Noise may even harm unborn children, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics. Noise exposure may shorten pregnancy unduly. It may decrease birth weight, and possibly impair lifelong hearing. And newborns need quiet too, though they don't always produce it.
Yes. Loud music is toxic pollution. It's bad for us, and we have to curtail it, whether privately through earplugs and soundproofing or publicly though regulation. Other people's loud music makes us feel powerless and frustrated. Also, loud music is rude. We ought to respect our neighbors enough to give them quiet air.
What happened in that beautiful hilltop park? The music stayed loud. I walked away, for the sake of peace.
http://aappoli cy.aapublications.or g/cgi/content/fullpe diatrics;100/4/724
ht tp://en.wikipedia.or g/wiki/Noise_health_ effects
www.euro.who. int/Noise
http://en.w ikipedia.org/wiki/St ressor
Learn more about this author, Janet Grischy.
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No
Loud music is an annoyance, an irritant, a destructive instrument of my peace of mind, but an environmental toxin? NO! Don't get me wrong, loud music depending on the type of music, is in fact a horrible annoyance. Especially, if I am in my car trying to listen to talk radio and a car pulls up beside me on a beautiful sunny day, all windows down, with rap music blaring. Even worse, if I happen to have my 8 year old daughter in the car with me and the horrible gangster wrap is spewing out words of hate, violence, and obscenities. Something I choose not to expose my daughter to. I believe that everyone is entitled to listen to what ever they want in the privacy of their own car, but do I also have to be subjected to their taste in music. For me driving is a relaxing thing, I love to drive. It is my little sanctuary where no one else can invade unless I choose them to, yet in an instant, my peaceful world is blown apart by car beside me. Ugh! I believe that loud music is a toxin, but not an environmental one.
Now a days, everything has an environmental tag attached to it. What gives? I truly think that this hysteria over the environment is really starting to get out of control. We are human beings and God gave us this earth to live on. No we are not supposed to destroy it, but the earth has proved over and over again, that it will destroy us, before it can be destroyed. The earth has an amazing ability to correct itself and to clean itself. Everything that we make has come from the earth in the first place. Even plastic, steel, oil, gasoline, chemicals, clothes, and so forth. Everything that we use and consume has originated from the earth. Over time, everything will convert back to it's original state at some point. Music, however, is not organic in anyway. Music can be so many different things to different people, but it is never an environmental toxin.
Music can soothe, relax, invigorate, energize, and irritate. Scientist have proved that heavy metal and rap music that has no melody can actually be harmful to your brain waves. It disrupts natural brain wave patterns. Where classical music has been proved to soothe and relax brain waves. What it all comes down to though, is a matter of taste and preference. Concerts are not the problem, though the music is excruciatingly loud, it is more the neighbor, or the person in the car next to you. That is where the annoyance comes in and that is all a matter of respect for others. I am guilty of playing music too loud especially when I am cleaning, washing my car, or when a song I really love comes on the radio. I try to be respectful of others around me most of the time. In the winter, it doesn't really matter because windows in my car and home are usually closed, it is the warmer months that violations occur the most. Through all of this though, I have to ask a question. Why is music being singled out? There is noise "pollution" everywhere these days. It is not just loud music. Beethoven blaring at high decibels can be just an annoying to another person as gangster rap. What about bad mufflers on cars, motorcycles, semi trucks, lawn mowers, snow blowers, and the like. Those are ten times m,ore annoying to me than music. Especially when an energetic neighbor decides to mow his grass at 7am, or clear off his snow at 6am. Trust me, those noises to be awoken to are extremely annoying.
In closing to this issue, please stop labeling everything "environmental". That too, is annoying. Be respectful of others serenity and peace. Be respectful period. Way too many people these days care more about the environment than they do other's right to live their lives. The environmental label is being over abused and that needs to quit. What ever happened to respecting other's right to privacy? If you are annoyed by loud music or other loud noises, call it what it is, an annoyance. Not an environmental issue.
Learn more about this author, RubyUnicorn.
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