Sound Hygiene for Children

by Federico Miyara

Sound Hygiene deals with a number of attitudes which everyone should have to avoid the hazards of noise and, at the same time, to care for the sound environment making our Planet a more friendly place to live in.

There are, thus, two aspects:

Let's examine them.

Individual Aspect

To get started, we must go first through an "ear cleaning", as the famous canadian composer Murray Schafer calls it. This "ear cleaning" does not mean to remove the earwax from our ears, but to learn to listen attentively to all of the sounds around us, including those ones of which we aren't even aware because we are too much used to them.

For instance: What sounds can you hear right now? Even if I'm not with you now, I can imagine several ones (I assume you are reading this on-line):

Am I wrong? (I suppose so if you are reading a printout version) I can still imagine other sounds, such as your breath, but the important thing is that you listen to them. So that you don't forget them, you may take note of them. If you can take a notebook with you everywhere you go (in the street, at the school, at the cinema) and write down each new sound you hear, you'll soon graduate "ear cleaning" with the highest marks.

Once your ears are "clean", you should learn to distinguish between harmful and safe sounds. In the following list you'll find some examples of sounds that are harmful:

The next list, on the other hand, contains examples of safe noises or sounds.

How about adding your own extra items to both lists? If you've caught the idea, you should have no difficulty.

Now that you have learnt to listen to the environmental sounds and to recognize potentially harmful noises, it is time to introduce yourself into the realm of hearing protection. In our noise-sick society, you'll often encounter with noises belonging to the first list--the hazardous ones. You should thus know how to protect yourself, and that is what hearing protection is about.

There are two approaches to hearing protection. The first one is just to cover your ears with your hands whenever you recognize a dangerous noise. For instance, when a noisy truck or bus comes close to you, or when someone is screaming or shouting very loud. This approach is useful only for transient noises, since it is uncomfortable and somewhat ridiculous to cover one's ears on a permanent basis. You should know that there are three ways of covering your ears:

The first one is not very effective (try it!). The second one is not very hygienic (from the point of view of dirt, of course--not from that of sound hygiene). We choose, thus to press the traguses. It's quite effective.

Tragus

The second approach is to use hearing protectors. There are two types: earplugs and headsets. Earplugs may be purchased at a drugstore, and they are the same you would use to dive. Most models are small enough to be hardly noticeable, just in case you are afraid of making yourself ridiculous. One more thing: you should always use perfectly clean earplugs. As they go inside your ear canals, you must avoid any possibility of becoming contaminated. Headsets, on the other hand, are designed to cover your ears completely. Definitely, you wouldn't like to wear them at a fancy-dress ball--unless you go dressed as a machinist. You couldn't hide them even under a lion-like mane. But many people find them more comfortable and easier to put on and take off.

Just in case you find yourself in an emergency (for instance, you are going to the fancy-dress ball and you can't find your protectors--or you've just forgotten to buy them) you may use cotton plugs, an old home-made alternative. They aren't the best choice, but they are better than nothing. (I remember that once in a noisy party I even got out of trouble with a pair of improvised earplugs made of... tissue paper). Please, note that you shouldn't use again a pair of cotton earplugs which you have already taken off your ears. You should discard them and wear clean ones.

Social Aspect

The social aspect is very interesting, but it is also most difficult. The following list contains a few examples of mistaken attitudes:

This list, on the other hand, contain some examples of proper actions which in the long run will help to improve the sound environment:

Do you think you are already able to add new items to these lists? If your answer is yes, I'll enjoy my success at getting a new ally to the Cause of Quiet.

 

E-mail: fmiyara@fceia.unr.edu.ar
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