The Impact of Inaudible Noise On The Well-Being of Adolescents

Research before distance learning has shown that more than half of the Slovenian primary school population is overloaded with noise. A question arises as to what is happening in this area with the transition to a home learning environment during the period of distance learning. The paper includes a comparison of two pilot studies within one primary school (Primary school Ormož); the first was conducted in winter of the 2019/2020 school year, and the second at the beginning of 2021. Researches included the method of source analysis, noise measurements and survey method. The results were compared with certain existing research in Slovenia and in the world.

It was found that the noise limits in the surveyed school also exceeded the permissible noise values and that 81% of the surveyed students occasionally wished for peace and quiet. We wondered if the student’s home learning environment was quieter. Research during classical lessons has shown that students who use headphones are not bothered by constant low noise, while a third of other students are distracted by such noise, indicating changes in the perception of noise after using headphones. Increased use of headphones during distance learning in adolescents has directed external noise into prolonged internal noise, which the environment does not hear, but has a concerning effect on the psychophysical well-being of adolescents.