Children & Noise
Noise poses a serious threat to our children’s hearing, health, learning and behavior. Recent research suggests that quiet promotes an environment which will foster learning, as well as the opportunity for parents and children to enjoy each other’s company. Parents must analyze their own home and recreational activities and make every effort to include quiet times with their children, reading, talking around the dinner table and listening to their children.
Noise & Its Effect on Children's Hearing
Effects of Noise on Children's Hearing
Noise poses a serious threat to our children's hearing, health, learning and behavior. Recent research suggests that quiet promotes an environment which will foster learning, as well as the opportunity for parents and children to enjoy each other's company. Parents must analyze their own home and recreational activities and make every effort to include quiet times with their children, reading, talking around the dinner table and listening to their children.
Noise & Children's Hearing
According to the American Academy of Otolaryngology, three million children under the age of 18 have some kind of hearing difficulty. A study by Judy Montgomery in 1990 found that 7% of second-graders, 15% of eighth-graders, and 13% of twelfth-graders and 26% of high school seniors who played in the band had a measurable hearing loss. As early as 1972, David Lipscomb studied 1,000 sixth, ninth, and twelfth graders and found that 3.8% of sixth graders, 11% of ninth graders and 10.6% of twelfth graders failed the hearing screening. A follow-up study by David Lipscomb in 1972 studied the hearing of college freshmen and found that 32.9% of one group and 60.7% in a second group had a measurable high-frequency hearing loss. In a more recent study (1996), the League for the Hard of Hearing found that 10% of ninth graders failed a hearing screening and that these students had never before been identified as having hearing difficulties. Furthermore, their teachers reported that these students exhibited learning and behavior problems in the class.
As part of International Noise Awareness Day '97, the Weekly Reader ran a cover story on noise which was disseminated to one million third graders. As a follow-up, the League for the Hard of Hearing offered a "Fun Quiz on Noise" on its website. Analysis of this quiz showed that 46% of third grade students who responded reported that their ears ring sometimes. In the Journal of the American Medical Association (April 8, 1998-Vol.279, No. 14), it was reported that 14.9% of United States children aged 6 to 19 years have a low-frequency or high-frequency hearing loss of at least 16-dB hearing level in one or both ears.
Parents Beware
Noise-induced hearing loss among children is a serious public concern and impacts on speech, language, cognitive, social and emotional development. The National Hearing Conservation Association reported that in a survey of 110 children, ages 6 to 14, the average noise level during the day was 90 decibels, about the level of city traffic. On the playground, these levels reached 115 decibels, similar to that of a noisy subway or rock music.
Parents must pay attention to noise exposure in children's recreational activities. They must listen to toys before purchasing them, encourage children to lower the volume on stereos and noisy computer games, avoid or limit exposure at noisy movies and video arcades, and keep the volume down on personal stereo systems with headphones. If your child is in a school band, discuss the volume with the music teacher and encourage your child to wear hearing protection. Pay attention to the warning signs of a noise-induced hearing loss (ringing in the ears, speech sounding muffled) and if you have any questions about your child's hearing, discuss it with your pediatrician or licensed audiologist. Remember, that noise-induced hearing loss, though permanent, is preventable. Take steps to preserve your child's hearing today.
See Noise Center’s References and Suggested Resources
