Screaming kids! Anyone else can't stand the noise?

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TallyMan
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14 Oct 2009, 3:27 pm

I had to leave a store the other day. Someone had a young kid in tow - around 2 years old I'd guess. Screaming its head off. The mother made a few half hearted attempts to get the child to stop screaming but 30 seconds later it was screaming at the top of its lungs again.

Several other customers clearly disliked the noise but for me it completely grabbed my attention and was overwhelming. The pain was like my brain was being crushed or bruised. I couldn't stand it and had to leave the store after a few minutes.

Do others have similar (extreme) reactions / problems with the noise of young kids screaming and shrieking?


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j0sh
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14 Oct 2009, 3:35 pm

It drives my nutz.



14 Oct 2009, 3:53 pm

A two year old on the train was making high pitch sounds at these two kids behind her and it overwhelmed me because it kept startling me and her mother was a sleep.

I was at Wal-Mart and there was this girl who looked to be about five years old and she was crying and making these high pitch sounds and she looked way too old to be acting that way but I figured she might have been special needs because she was in the cart seat and then her mother carried her to the front of the store leaving her husband behind to pay.


Luckily I don't run into this often.



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14 Oct 2009, 4:02 pm

Crying babies drives me nuts, but when it's just kids, I don't notice it. I think it's because I got so used to it at school. I went to a special school, so kids were screaming every day all up through like 9th grade, LOL. So it's like I don't even hear it anymore.


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14 Oct 2009, 4:13 pm

I don't like screaming in general, but yes, this definitely annoys me! I suppose it's not so bad when they only scream for a short time, but it's awful when they're constantly screaming! :x


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14 Oct 2009, 4:24 pm

Sometimes I wonder why kids don't lose their voice while screaming their head off, and we adults lose ours when we are for example only having a conversation in a high-noise enviroment (like near a avenue...)



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14 Oct 2009, 4:37 pm

I don't mind the screaming children as much as I mind the parents who seem to be oblivious to the irksome caterwauling their progeny create.



wigglyspider
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14 Oct 2009, 4:40 pm

Speeder wrote:
Sometimes I wonder why kids don't lose their voice while screaming their head off, and we adults lose ours when we are for example only having a conversation in a high-noise enviroment (like near a avenue...)
I bet if we screamed more often we'd be able to scream for longer. I haven't screamed in a long time. I'm afraid someone would hear me and call 911. D:
But I used to scream until my throat was raw, and that took like an hour.. lol, I must have been one of those kids that everyone within a mile wants to kill.


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CWhite978
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14 Oct 2009, 4:56 pm

Yeah, it really pisses me off.



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14 Oct 2009, 5:14 pm

My sister loved screaming >.< It was really annoying...

I can scream pretty loud, really loud, my lungs are really powerfull (I played lots of woodwind instruments and I was a swimmer), but happily to people around me, I don't do that :P Last time I screamed randomly it hurt my own ears, so I don't even try anymore for whatever reason... (altough I am not over-sensitive like some people, I hear too much, to the point that I am constantly holding my nose and sucking air to make my ears "close" so I hear less... Too bad that I can not stand much long with my full hearing, it is too painfull, it is quite usefull, I can hear bizarrely far...)



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14 Oct 2009, 5:21 pm

TallyMan wrote:
I had to leave a store the other day. Someone had a young kid in tow - around 2 years old I'd guess. Screaming its head off. The mother made a few half hearted attempts to get the child to stop screaming but 30 seconds later it was screaming at the top of its lungs again.

Several other customers clearly disliked the noise but for me it completely grabbed my attention and was overwhelming. The pain was like my brain was being crushed or bruised. I couldn't stand it and had to leave the store after a few minutes.

Do others have similar (extreme) reactions / problems with the noise of young kids screaming and shrieking?



As a parent--particularly as a parent of a child who started showing signs of a mood disorder at age 4--sometimes there is not much you can do. Neither of my kids was ever a screamer, but my older son had his share of rages in public. It's always harder when you know people are judging you and giving you dirty looks. No one likes the sound of an unhappy little kid; I'm sure that's based on survival instincts.

It depends on what you mean by "screaming", though. With a 2 year old, I'd guess he was due for a nap, and had reached that point of just not being able to handle another minute shopping. The best option is to avoid taking your tired, cranky 2 year old out to run errands with you.

One thing I have zero tolerance for is that high pitched shriek that so many little girls do. It's not a "I need my nap and a diaper change" shriek. It's a "hey everybody, listen to this ear-piercing sound I can make over and over again, because I'm the girliest little girl in the whole world, and Pepto-Bismal pink is my favorite color!! !" kind of shriek. I have a friend with a little girl who does that. She did it at a birthday party, every time a certain thing happened in a game. Her mother encouraged it, because it was a sign of happiness and fun. But it really hurt my ears. I was never a screamer or shrieker; I always found that a bit loathsome when classmates did that.



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14 Oct 2009, 6:42 pm

I'm a parent of two children also (an autistic boy and a neurotypical two year old).

Pretty much no-one likes a high pitched shriek (even me, dear old mum :wink:). I posted this in another thread, but I'll reiterate it here ...

As annoying a high pitched shrieking child is - we have to accept that kids have high pitched voices and they do scream sometimes. It could be because of tiredneess, it could be because they are not feeling well, it could be some neurosensitity. Who knows. Please do not give dirty looks to the parents (unless it is in a high end restaurant at the late seating - that's a little much..). However, on the bus/subway, in the grocery store, at the clinic, etc, please remember that these are necessary outings (i.e. to get from point a to b, get food or get medical care). Children and their families have a right to be a part of the community and exist - even though small children can be loud and shrill...

The best thing to do is invest in a small pair of noise reducing ear plugs - this takes the edge off the shrillness. If it is especially bothersome, an investment in a full set of noise reducing headphones would really help. After all, there are other noises that are annoying - fire alarms and other alarms, construction noise, etc.



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14 Oct 2009, 7:00 pm

Scream rises to the top topic

Screamers want attention. provided there is no danger, and if the child can do it away from others, i jsut let all my three NT kids scream themselves to sleep. It was hard, but it cured them, at least in childhood.

My 15 year old has started up again, and I must do the ignoring thing again.

computer is also starting to act up, so I better leave now and not give it attention. :wink:


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14 Oct 2009, 7:19 pm

The sound of screaming children unnerves me like you wouldn't believe. I encountered it so many times at work, and more often than not, it would get so overwhelming for me that I had to go run and hide back in the employee lounge or stockroom, often covering my ears the whole way. If I'm out on my own and a kid starts screaming its head off, I either have to wait it out while covering my ears, or leave the store (or wherever) altogether. I've taken to carrying a small pair of noise-cancelling earbuds in my pocket every time I'm out of the house, so I think I may have to use them for more than just listening to my iPod now.

It should also be noted that I have problems with other unwanted loud and/or high-pitched noises as well. Alarms, loud machinery, the bell-ringers that are out every Christmas season, even my cats when they get particularly loud and obnoxious (especially when trying to bathe them)...all of those are other examples of noises that are unnerving to me.

Either way, screaming/crying children just one reason on my miles-long list of reasons I do not ever want kids. If they started acting up, I wouldn't be able to handle it, and would just go into a full-out breakdown myself.



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14 Oct 2009, 7:36 pm

The sound of a screaming baby or child is extremely painful for me, and I immediately have to cover my ears and/or leave when I'm around one.



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14 Oct 2009, 7:48 pm

"It should also be noted that I have problems with other unwanted loud and/or high-pitched noises as well. Alarms, loud machinery, the bell-ringers that are out every Christmas season, even my cats when they get particularly loud and obnoxious (especially when trying to bathe them)...all of those are other examples of noises that are unnerving to me." (Emphasis Canadian Roses')

Holy crap - you BATHE YOUR CATS :!: :?: :!: :?: If I had to bathe my psychotic feline companion, it wouldn't be the noise I would find irritating but the arterial bleeding and my shredded skin and muscle tissue that would be the problem. :lol:

My poor insane cat has to do with bathing himself with his own rough little tongue :D At least he is quiet about it. :