Strollerderby : noise

Children's Laughter Bugs Pre-School's Neighbors

JeanneSager — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 18:38:00 GMT

There are plenty of valid reasons why a pre-school should not be placed in a particular area based on a town's zoning. But this one takes the cake.

Neighbors of the Montessori Farmhouse School said it had to go because they didn't want to hear "noise generated by laughter and screaming of young children during outdoor playtime."

Oh, the horrors. Imagine, children laughing! Children screaming out each other's names. Children, children, children!

To be fair, there were other reasons neighbors cited for saying bye bye to the pre-school, including traffic in their rural community in the woods of Washington state. But the fact that they brought this particular "issue" to light has been getting the most attention.

As well it should.

The neighborhood was rural residential, zoned for homes with daycare centers allowable under a special permitting process. In other words, we're talking about the perfect environment for kids to run around in, make noise and just be kids. As developers overtake some of the pristine lands left in this country, these are the kinds of neighborhoods that are disappearing, along with the kids, who are often relegated to indoor play in neighborhoods full of traffic and too-close neighbors with too-small yards.

I grew up in the middle of nowhere, in a place I dare say was even more quiet than the six-acre property in a rural residential neighborhood where the Montessori school was being run. My parents' neighbors were largely second homeowners who were rarely around, and I had the run of the dead-end road. I could scream my lungs out, and no one would hear. It was marvelous. Today, living in a still-small neighborhod, I relish hearing the neighbor's little boy shrieking in delight as he runs pell mell across the yard at the dog or the other neighbors' grandson whooping it up on his tree swing. We're still rural enough that they CAN play outside.

We don't have a school here, no teachers tell our kids where to play or when or direct them not to trample on lawns or keep their voices down.

Yet the hearing examiner who denied the school said the noise would be "materially detrimental to single-family residential properties in the immediate vicinity." He warned that kids going out into the woods to examine the bugs and the trees and the streams "probably would not stay on the footpath during their trips into the woods and would likely trample the stream banks and vegetation in the wetland."

Imagine that - the kids might go exploring. And I suppose deer don't trample vegetation in the wetlands? And squirrels gather their nuts only on footpaths, I'd bet.

I'll give you concerns about site distance regarding the school's driveway or sewage issues, but the idea that adding kids to a residential neighborhood is deterimental is just plain bizarre. Isn't that what residential neighborhoods are for? Places for kids to grow up? The Montessori school, by the way, expected to have no more than forty children when operating at full capacity.

Would you be mad if kids laughed next door? Even forty of them?

Image: LittleGym

Bone Headphones: Safer for Kids?

JeanneSager — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 20:28:00 GMT

I've always been wary about my daughter grabbing my iPod and jamming the little buds in her ears. It used to be hearing damage that worried me. Then I wrote a post here on the 'Derby about teenagers who are totally oblivious to danger when they've got their headphones turned to top volume.

A wise person once said complain and you will receive (I'm taking artistic license here people). So what did I get for my whinging about boneheaded teenagers? An e-mail telling me there's a better answer.

Bone headphones. Lacking in techy savvy (I leave that to the computer geek I married), I was clueless. But after being assured these were a parent's best answer to balancing kids' demands for their music with the safety of the whole body (ears included), I went looking. Geeks-in-the-know, go ahead. Laugh at me. Because these things are both the weirdest-feeling and coolest things I have found in the wide world of making parenting perfect gizmos (many of which I've learned about via my friends here on Droolicious).

The basic concept? Instead of discs that slip in the ear, these discs sit on the outside of the ear - on that bone right in front (with a name like that - imagine that). The music playing through the discs vibrates the bone, which transmits to the inner ear, which transmits to the brain (and the knee bone is connected to the . . . ). The delicate ear drum (what I worry about - probably needlessly - with my kid) is never even touched. And since you're not blocking the ear drum, you're not cutting off their connection with the outside world. In other words? They can still hear the cars, buses, trains . . .

To be fair to the company, they're not marketing them to kids. But is this something that could help with all our clueless teens? I know it would save a lot of parents' voices (no more screaming, "did you hear me? I saaaaaaid, did you hear me?"). I just don't know that kids are any more aware of the world when they can hear it!

Image: AudioBone

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Nine-Year-Old Banned For Tennis Grunting

Kelly Mills — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 22:02:00 GMT

Well, the details aren't totally confirmed, but it looks like an Australian tennis club banned a nine-year-old girl from competing in tennis because she grunts when she plays. Tennis fans will immediately invoke fellow grunter Maria Sharapova, and the mother of all tennis grunters, Monica Seles (whose signature vocalizations were mentioned almost every time she was) but despite the noble tradition, Lauren Edwards was told to knock off the noise.

Here's how the tennis club made a little girl cry on the court: When Lauren played a recent match, her opponent complained about the grunts. The club asked Lauren's dad to ensure she would cut out the racket (ba dum) but after one more noise, she was told she couldn't play any more. Maybe it's because I grunt when I blog, but this story enrages me. I've never understood why people feel they have a right to prohibit grunting (even Monica got flack) and the only argument I hear is that it distracts the other player. Well, welcome to competition. Playing through distractions is part of being a good athlete. And I seriously don't like it when clubs make little girls weep.

What? Loud Toys Deafen Kids, Annoy Adults

Karen Murphy — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 15:56:00 GMT

I love it when science catches up with me.

I've been told I am "too sensitive." That applies to many things, but sound is definitely high on the list. Hey, some of us are sensitive to that sort of thing! Which is one reason why I avoid loud toys, not that avoiding electronic noisemakers deters my youngest from constantly generating decibels while for instance banging on an upended metal pail with a wooden spoon and singing along, but I have to agree with Mike, who said that air is the best toy of all.

Because loud electronic toys can cause permanent hearing loss in kids.

And while the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) can't agree on what is considered "safe" exposure levels for things that emit 100 decibels or more (OSHA = 2 hours; NIOSH = 10 minutes, a rather disturbing variance), it's also a safe bet that kids won't use these sorts of toys "correctly"; that is, keeping them away from their ears and using them only for short periods of time.

As much as I'd love to snark on these toys, kids are able to make noise from practically anything: besides the aforementioned makeshift drum my youngest has created, he's also got a xylophone, a rainstick, and, well, himself. Plus my seven-year-old can emit the most ear-piercing high-pitched shriek known to man.

On my Christmas list: noise-canceling headphones. I just thought of it.

Want a list of some of the offending electronica and their decibel emissions? Might make you think twice in your shopping this month. Or just pick up the headphones for everyone.

High School Musical Rockerz Jammin Guitar: 106
Cheetah Girls – In Concert Collection Doll: 104

Hannah Montana – In Concert Collection Doll: 103

VTech V.Smile Baby: 103

CAT Motorized Dump Truck: 102

Tickle Me Elmo: 100

Transformers Trans-portable Activity Center: 99

Tonka Lights and Sounds Hummer: 97

Bob the Builder Deluxe Talking Tool Belt: 96

Bosch Toy Chainsaw: 95

Tickle Me Cookie Monster: 94

Little People Dump Truck: 92

Cabbage Patch Kids Babies: 91

Leap Frog Learning Lily: 90

Tickle Me Ernie: 90

Playskool Gloworm: 85

Little People School Bus: 80