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New topical videos and discussion prompts are posted every Monday
06/21/2010
Should vuvuzela horns be banned at the World Cup?
No doubt you've noticed the annoying background drone during live telecasts of the World Cup soccer matches beamed in from South Africa. Meet the vuvuzela, a three-foot long plastic horn commonly blown by fans at football matches in South Africa. World Cup officials are fielding complaints and demands that the popular noisemaker be banned during matches. But South African football fans defend the noismaker as a beloved tradition.■Class discussion: How old does a practice have to be before it qualifies as a "tradition?" According to Wikipedia, "the vuvuzela became popular in South Africa in the 1990s." And the horns were first mass-produced in 2001. Players, commentators and TV fans have complained. There is some scientific evidence that the noise level at stadiums can damage hearing. Should the horns be banned or tolerated?