One of the most teenager-y things that comes to mind when people are asked to think about the average 15 or 16-year-old is when they have to take one of their headphones out when their parents ask them to do something, and they reply by screaming: “WHAT!?”

Despite the obvious stereotype at work here, this image is actually pretty true to real life. Walking down the hallways in school, for instance, about half of the people are talking animatedly with some friends, while the other half is staring straight ahead with some headphones in, doing everything possible to ignore the people around them and just get to where they need to go.

“Once the bell rings at the end of class, I use those next six minutes to just avoid people as much as possible,” said Esther Povh, junior. “I put in my headphones, crank up the volume, and start speed-walking to my next class.”

With this being such a common occurrence, most of us don’t realize that the frequency at which we use our headphones can actually put us at risk for ear damage or even permanent hearing loss.

In the past, noise pollution in cities has always been seen as the leading cause of hearing loss, as determined by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Now, though, the leading cause has transitioned to excessive noise from portable noise devices, such as headphones. In 2015, 1.1 billion children were at risk of permanent hearing damage, which is 30% more than in the 1990’s.

Basically, the nerve synapses in the ear are more susceptible to damage than the hair cells in the inner ear. When listening through headphones, the noise strikes between the hair cells and into the neurons on the nerves. The damage caused by this often can’t be detected by standard hearing tests, so the loss that results is known as “hidden hearing loss”.

The amount of damage that results from listening to headphones depends on the decibels of the sound (the volume) and the amount of time the sound is playing. The higher the volume, the less time it takes for damage to take place.

“My sister always yells at me for being able to hear my music through my headphones because I have the volume so high,” said Shelly Tey, freshman. “I always listen to it at a high volume, so I feel like I can’t properly hear my music if it’s less than normal.”

Listening to music too loudly is pretty common for most teenagers, probably because the loud music has already damaged the hearing to some degree, and you have to keep the music at a high volume just to hear it.

In order to prevent any permanent damage, experts recommend following a 60/60 rule. Listen to music at less than 60% volume, and for no more than 60 minutes a day, when listening through headphones.

Old habits die hard, especially habits that are practiced nearly all day, every day– but if we still want to keep enjoying the music that we listen to through our headphones, taking a few precautions are worth a shot.