All that high pitched whining!
We have an instinctual emotional response
because children should not be ignored.
Unless you're talking about "the scream" emitted by prepubescent girls--a sound which I'm sure is fully capable of piercing 1/2 steel boilerplate--I really have no idea. I don't find children's voices irritating.
Now, a baby's cry, on the other hand, can drive me up the wall!
The older you get ...the more annoying they are. I can only spend about an hour with my young granddaughters.
You are listening to children who have parents who do not know how not to be irritating themselves.
Children, when rasied properly and brought up healthy and happy, sound very sweet.
I love this question. Kids voices can very irritating! Especially the ones who insist on talking at the top of their voice or just have a high, screechy voice. On the other hand, little kids can have very sweet voices like no other age can.
It's their special ability, being annoying.
I was actually going to say this very same thing.
They've studied it... mostly with babies and the cries they make. It's ingrained in us to make it stop. Researchers believe that we're this way so that kids are tended to... ancient people would have run the risk of being eaten by predators or whatever if the kids persisted, so we're hardwired to silence it. Maternal instinct is to do this by providing care for the child, but, clearly, not everyone is maternal.
Evolutionary response. Next time you're irritated just deck the kid.