By LtCol John R. Allen, Ph.D.
Psychologists and education specialists tell us that the earlier in life you begin to teach a behavior, the more likely it is that the behavior will be incorporated into an individuals lifestyle. Certainly, each of us has encountered the frustration with trying to teach adults the importance of protecting themselves from hazardous noise. And yet, if we start by teaching children that loud sounds can permanently damage the hearing system, and that these losses are completely preventable, perhaps by the time they are adults, there will be no noise induced hearing losses. We will have a generation totally aware of noise.
DoD audiologists routinely educate our patients about the impact noise can have on our hearing. This is typically done during a patient visit, after some damage has been done. Several years ago, then Capt Theresa Schulz, developed Operation BANG (Be Aware of Noise Generation). This was a hearing loss prevention/noise awareness program aimed at school aged children. BANG consisted of some classroom lecture/ demonstration activities, a field trip to the flight line and the audiology clinic, and guest presentations, spread over a three-day period. Upon completion of Operation BANG, the children had a much better understanding of the hearing mechanism, what could cause hearing loss(most particularly, noise), what constituted hazardous noise, and what the impact could be to communication abilities.
Modified versions of BANG were conducted in 1989 in Wiesbaden, Germany and again in 1991 and 1992 in San Antonio, Texas. In each case, these presentations were focused at one classroom, in one school. The reviews by teachers, parents, and, most importantly, students was very positive. However, it was apparent that the audience was much too small if Awareness of a Generation was the goal. Maj Schulz had the right idea by incorporating the local television and newspaper media. And yet, it was still just one classroom, in one school. Soon, this will change!
In the spring of 1998, a Military Audiology Association/Air Force Audiology Association supported Operation BANG will be implemented in San Antonio. However, this time the program will be presented to entire fifth grade classes at approximately sixteen schools, spread out over the entire city. Obviously, this is too big a task for one audiologist. In fact, the presenters will include active duty and retired Army and Air Force audiologists, as well as active duty AF speech pathologists, in the San Antonio area.
Arrangements are being made to coordinate this through Public Affairs and have coverage by the local television stations as well as the newspapers. The Public Affairs office at Brooks AFB is interested in running a story and possibly submitting it to Airman Magazine. It has been suggested that any film footage obtained might be forwarded to the major networks for possible inclusion in one of their broadcasts.
If successful (and with the talent we have here, there is no reason to think we will not be successful), this will reach, via the media, the roughly one million residents in San Antonio. With any luck, we will bring our message of prevention to many more across the country. This is an exciting adventure, and yet, it is just a start at having our children Be Aware of Noise Generation!