NOISE

Noise is my choice of major stressors for children to discuss in my blog.  Noise is derived from the Latin word “nausea” implying ‘unwanted sound’ or ‘sound that is loud, unpleasant or unexpected’. The major cities of the world are now facing problem of rise in noise pollution due to very high population, transportation, congestion and associated commercial and Industrial activities (Chauhan, 2008).  Most adults do not view noise as a problem for children because children tend to be noisy by nature.  We also do not realize that harmful noises do not have to come from population, transportation, congestion, commercial and industrial activities.  It can be something as simple as music, pans banging together, or loud yelling or crying.

I am blessed that my oldest son will periodically come and get  his youngest brother periodically, and take him various places in order to give me a break and allow me some time to study or just some alone time.  Although there is a 17 year gap in their ages, they enjoy things such as:  getting their hair cut together, going out for breakfast, and shopping for athletic wear.  When my youngest son was about 2 years old, we noticed that he would cover his ears whenever the chefs at the Japanese Hibachi restaurants would bang their utensils together during the entertainment portion of preparing the meal.  We thought it was cute at first.  As he grew older, he began to say, “It’s too loud”.  Needless to say, The Fourth of July was his least favorite holiday.  Being the over protective parent that I am; I took him to his pediatrician.  We later discovered that my son’s ears were overly sensitive and if things were too loud or too soft; he had trouble hearing.  It also had an effect on his ability to speak.  We had to adhere to speech therapy and be cautious with loud noises because it also made him very nervous.

Just recently, I noticed that my younger son would very excited about the upcoming weekends when he was to spend time with his brother.  As the weekend approached, he would change his mind.  This made me a little suspicious.  I had asked a couple of times why he had changed his mind about hanging out with his brother and he replied, “Because I do not want to ride all the way to MS”.  My eldest son lives in MS; but it is only takes about 30 minutes to get to his house.  Therefore, I knew that was not all there was to the story.  I sat my youngest son down and convinced him to talk to me and tell me the real reason why he did not want to go with his brother.  He told me it was because he plays his music too loud and it scares him.  He said that he told his brother it was too loud and he did not listen, so he told his father.  My husband said something about to the older son and told the two middle boys that their younger brother was a tattle tale.  My youngest son was devastated and figured he would not say anything about it to either parent because he did not want his older brothers to think he was a tattle tale.

My son is about 3 months away from being a parent for the first time.  Therefore, it was not difficult to find the right words when we talked.  He had forgotten all about the struggle we had with his little brother and his ears.  He did not believe him when he said the music was too loud.  To wrap up the conversation that I had with my eldest son, I asked him one simple question, “What would you do if your non-verbal (soon –to-be born) son covered his ears while riding in the vehicle with you?”  With tears in his eyes, “I would turn the music off”.  He later called his little brother and apologized for being so insensitive about the situation and he promised him that it would never happen again.

In conclusion, India has been facing the problem of noise pollution for many years.  Noise from firecrackers is one of the most important environmental problems (Singh and Joshi, 2010).  According to Vidya Sagar and Nageshwar, Rao (2006) impact of noise pollution during pregnancy is reflected among the newborns.  There are several measures that can be made to properly maintain noise pollution such as:  maintenance of vehicles and roads.  The most important method of keeping this issue under control is simply by making people aware of the different types of noise pollution and its effects on human and non-living things (Chahaun, 2010).
 

References:

Chauhan, A.  Assessment of noise level status in different areas of Moradabad City.  Department of       Applied Sciences and Humanities.  2010.  Retrieved from:                  http://www.sciencepub.net/report/report0205/10_3014_report0205_59_61.pdf

Chauhan, A.  Study of noise pollution level in different places of Haridwar and Dehradun city (India).                        Environment Conservation Journal 2008; 9(3): 21-25.

Singh, D and Joshi, B.D. Study of the Noise pollution for three consecutive years during Deepawali           festival in Meerut City, Uttar Pradesh.  New York Science Journal, 2010: 3(6): 40-42.

Vidya Sagar T, Nageshwara Rao G.  Noise pollution levels in Visakhapatnam city (India).  Journal of           Environ. Science & Engg. 2006; 48(2): 139-142.