Hearing Awareness Month

March 3rd was World Hearing Day. Around the world, young people are at risk of losing their hearing through exposure to loud noise.  One in 5 young people around the world have a hearing loss and this is likely to double in the next 30 years. Many young people are listening to music for too long and too loudly through headphones. This can cause hearing loss. When you lose your hearing, it’s gone forever. You can’t get it back.

We are surrounded by noise. Some classrooms are too noisy.  Some concerts are too loud. Some cafes are too noisy. Street noise can be unpleasantly loud. We need to be aware that loud noise can be unsafe. It can cause deafness.

Some young people joined the Round the Bays fun run on March 8th to run to raise awareness of the National Foundation for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing’s youth hearing health programme. (https://www.nfd.org.nz/round-the-bays-2020)

This month we should also be aware of those who are deaf. Auckland Council’s Movies in the Park is showing 20 films with captions. There will be hearing checks at some workplaces also.

Vocabulary: