Most people listen to music daily. There are so many new technologies that have made it easier to listen to any type of music or artist that you want to hear when you want. There are applications like Spotify andApple Music that let you stream millions of artists and songs. Back in the day you had to buy CDs or listen to the radio. This was inhibiting because you had no choice most of the times on what you wanted to listen to.
Music has become a big part of our lives, therefore headphones have as well. Headphones are a great way to listen to your music in a quiet way and allows you to not disturb other people. Also when you buy a new cellphone, most of them, if not all, include headphones. It is fair to say that they have also become very important to us. Personally, I can’t live without headphones. I love music and I love to hear it at all times. Headphones have enabled me to do so. Since I use them so much I usually try to invest a reasonable amount in good quality headphones. If they are not quality headphones, they can be more harmful for your ears. So I believe that the quality matters a lot, not only for my hearing health, but also because the audio will sound a lot better, compared to normal headphones.
I use headphones on the daily and I have never thought that they could be dangerous. However, according an article, they can even be deadly. This article talks about a teen who reportedly died after being shocked by his headphones, and he is not the only one this has happened to. The article quotes the New Straits Times by saying that the teenager was 16 years old and he was found “dead and bleeding from the ear”.He was wearing headphones and they were connected to a cellphone while it was charging. The autopsy showed that he died electrocuted. The article also quotesVice as saying that this has happened before. He is the “fourth person to be killed by an electric shock from headphones” this year. Some of these have also been “attributed to a surge of electricity through the charger”.
Reading this article was surprising, because I have never considered something like this happening to me. As I mentioned I listen to so much music and I have definitely listened with headphones while charging my phone. This news could hypothetically be an inhibiting factor for headphone users, but I don’t think it will be. I agree that if doing something so harmless as using headphones can harm me, I wouldn’t feel as secure as I did before. And while I know that the probability of that happening to me is enormous, it still makes me feel uneasy in a way. In fact, after reading this article I considered using my headphones only if my phone was not charging.
Finally, I think this news was not bigger because as the article mentioned, it has only happened to at least 4 other people. I don’t think most people pay attention to accidents like these, because they are not truly massive. Mostly because it is highly unlikely for something like this to happen to you. It is a tragic story, but it’s not enough to attract the masses.
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