SD Mayor, Jerry Sanders, has proclaimed the week of November 14-18 as Buds in the Schools Week. This campaign is to help children understand how to protect their ears while listening to music. Every day, millions of children put their hearing at risk by listening to personal audio technology devices too long and too loudly. Roughly 13 out of every 100 school children have some degree of hearing loss. Hearing loss can have a number of different causes, from genetic disease to illness, but the one that has come to the forefront with the recent rise in popularity of MP3 players is Noise-Induced Hearing Loss.
Educators are well aware that hearing loss can lead to numerous problems in school. Students with hearing loss can have difficulty with academic achievement, including language arts, vocabulary, arithmetic, and problem solving. They score lower on achievement tests, and have greater needs for special education or extra support in the classroom. Hearing loss can also cause social development problems.
The Listen to Your Buds campaign link includes the following:
