Believe it or not, by the time our children get to their teens, up to 1 out of 5 will have slight hearing loss (newborns have a rate of 1 in 1000). In surveys done several times over the last 3 decades, the rates of hearing loss in teens have risen from 15 to 20% since 1988. That translates into 6.5 million teens with varying levels of loss – some of which can affect hearing in school, in the workplace, and compromise safety when hearing is important.