A group of enterprising Gisborne high school students are hoping ‘wearing it loud’ will help turn down the volume among their peers and protect their hearing.
As part of the modern generation of iPod listeners, the four Campion College business studies students have created a business to make money and raise awareness of the permanent damage that long exposure to loud music can cause.
T-shirts printed with “Loud Fashion” and a large volume dial going from One to Deaf will be sold by the group at a stall in the Gisborne township as part of their business studies course criteria. A portion of the proceeds will be donated to the NFD.
“The t-shirts illustrate that turning up your music to 11 in order to party hard will come at a cost,” says Loud Fashion managing director Keegan Platten.
Keegan says the group believes hearing protection is a vital issue for young New Zealanders because of the popularity of Ipods and Mp3 players and the perceived ‘uncoolness’ of listening sensibly.
“We know that many younger people, especially teens, aren’t limiting or monitoring the volume that they’re listening to music players. As teenagers ourselves, we hope that by selling these t-shirts we can get the message across that there are real, severe consequences to high levels of noise.”
The t-shirts are available to buy for $30. Email loudfashion@gmail.com.