Improving the school environment

Research has shown that on average school children and teaching staff are regularly exposed to sound levels between 65 and 75dBA. These are under the volume at which people in industry must wear hearing protection by law, but are loud enough to have an impact on hearing with the potential to have a detrimental effect on a child’s ability to learn.

While parents can potentially control the amount of time their child listens to music with an MP3 player, or limit the maximum volume as with iPods, school is a place where parents may not be so aware of the loud noise levels their children are being exposed to.

It has been shown that in noisy classrooms, children whose hearing has been tested as normal may find recognising speech in background noise difficult and may have trouble picking out the voice of the teacher. If it is necessary to strain to hear the teacher then this can be tiring and ultimately can affect concentration levels.

For children who have a hearing loss, hearing the teacher in a noisy classroom can be virtually impossible. These children are at risk of falling behind in class, and research in Sweden has shown that children may be so tired from fighting to concentrate that they go straight to sleep when they get home from school.

As children fitted with cochlear implants attend mainstream schools, it is important to consider the impact that loud or unfamiliar sounds can have on them.  Sounds such as an end of lesson bell or door slamming could be both uncomfortable to the ear and distressing.

In areas such as a school canteen where noise levels reach especially loud volumes, children with sensitive ears can also find noise levels problematic. As well as general loud chatter, sounds such as scraping chairs and clattering cutlery may add to the discomfort.

As a result of a noisy environment both children and adults may experience physical effects such as increased tinnitus, headaches, blood pressure, a build up in the body of stress hormones and, potentially, hearing loss.

Ideally, teachers should discourage children from talking at loud volumes and especially from having several speak at once. Ensuring adequate play time is a good way to enable children to let off steam. 

Providing good hearing conditions in schools is vital and there are many ways in which schools can take steps to reduce noise levels and improve listening conditions. Firstly, the acoustics of a classroom or dining hall can be improved by the addition of curtains or blinds, carpet, and notice boards made of fabric or cork. Also, to reduce the impact of sounds that may cause discomfort, felt pads could be added to chair and table legs, and squeaky drawers or uneven chairs or tables should be regularly maintained.

In Denmark, some teachers have taken to wearing ear protection due to noise levels in the classroom but we are not aware that this is being adopted by teachers in the UK. While it is important to protect the hearing of teachers, no measures should actually compromise their ability to hear the children.

To help pupils with hearing loss, a teacher can be equipped with a personal listening system. With the teacher wearing a transmitter and microphone, this type of system enables their speech to be heard clearly by the child who wears a receiver. Teachers should also be trained to look out for children who seem to be struggling to hear or finding noise levels distressing so that appropriate help can be given.