While researching the effects of noise pollution, the Environmental Pollution Centers (2017) outlined the development of children as a noise-induced health hazard. I thought that a separate blog post for this would be fitting.
Apparently, children seem more sensitive to noise pollution, with a number of noise-pollution-related diseases and dysfunction known to affect them. Children who regularly listen to music at high volumes are at risk of developing hearing dysfunctions. In 2001, an estimated 12.5% of American children between 6 to 19 years old had impaired hearing in one or both ears (Environmental Pollution Centers, 2017).
One of the well-known studies on noise pollution took place in 1974, conducted in an elementary school in New York City. Students in classrooms on the east side of the building had classrooms facing the subway and experienced intermittent train noise every 4.5 minutes on average while the classrooms on the west side of the building were not affected by the subway. Researchers found that students in classrooms facing the subway were on average, 4 months behind on reading level and performed worse on achievement tests compared to students on the west side of the building, where there was no noise disruption by subway (Bronzaft and McCarthy, 1975).
Other studies have also found that children exposed to noisy environments have elevated blood pressure and stress hormones (Liu et al., 2014). Another experiment on the impacts of aircraft noise on children’s reading comprehension and psychological health has also found that a 1 dB increase in aircraft noise exposure in school was associated with a 0.017 increase in hyperactivity and a 4% increase in odds of scoring well below or below average on reading tests (Clark et al., 2021).
Emerging research, though limited, links poorer student outcomes to daily noisescapes. A student’s daily noise scape can comprise sounds that range from moderately loud to harmful. Research indicates that chronic noise exposure, even at moderate levels, can also cause irreversible damage (Pakulski et al., 2016).
It is important to pay attention to the effects of noise on children because it can impact their development of children. Noise may permanently damage hearing and interferes with physical and psychological health and development as well as academic learning. More importantly, as Pakulski et al., (2016) argue, classroom noise is inescapable for students, they are unable to choose alternate settings nor do they have the autonomy to reduce their risk. Hence, those with the power to make decisions concerning their health should do so on their behalf.
References
Bronzaft, A.L. and McCarthy, D.P. (1975). The Effect of Elevated Train Noise On Reading Ability. Environment and Behavior, 7(4), pp.517–528.
Clark, C., Head, J., Haines, M., van Kamp, I., van Kempen, E. and Stansfeld, S.A. (2021). A meta-analysis of the association of aircraft noise at school on children’s reading comprehension and psychological health for use in health impact assessment. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 76, p.101646.
Liu, C., Fuertes, E., Tiesler, C.M.T., Birk, M., Babisch, W., Bauer, C.-P., Koletzko, S., von Berg, A., Hoffmann, B. and Heinrich, J. (2014). The associations between traffic-related air pollution and noise with blood pressure in children: Results from the GINIplus and LISAplus studies. International Journal of Hygiene and Environmental Health, 217(4-5), pp.499–505.
Pakulski, L., Glassman, J., Anderson, K. and Squires, E. (2016). Noise Pollution (Noise-Scape) Among School Children. [online] Available at: http://www.edaud.org/journal/2016/5-article-16.pdf [Accessed 31 May 2019].