Protecting our children’s hearing this Bonfire night

Children love Bonfire Night, that goes without saying, and after the first loud burst of fireworks many will be out in full force for the November 5 celebrations – I know my children rush outside as soon as they hear the first bang and search around for where those fireworks are coming from.

This year their school is actually putting on a firework and bonfire display this Saturday, however we have decided not to attend. There were many contributing factors as to why we won’t be there mainly it was because they wouldn’t enjoy it as much due to the health and safety factors being within the school and a busy crowded event.

With so many people attending, even if many of those are the children’s friends and families I felt that they would want to run around and play with their friends and with it being a fireworks display that wouldn’t have been allowed. They would have to stay close to us parents and at the age of 5 and 7 really they would prefer to play with their friends not stay close to our sides.

Instead we are heading to our local park which is close-by to the school where we will take snacks and drinks and the children can play, run around and be with their friends and cousins while still being able to watch the display. They will even be able to enjoy sparklers, something they wouldn’t have been able to inside the school grounds – they won’t be missing out at all and can still have their hotdogs and fizzy pop but at a safe distance away from those loud bangs and will probably have even more fun as they can chase around and play too.

Did you know that exposing a child to booming firecrackers and whistling Catherine wheels could be putting their hearing at risk of permanent damage, according to national charity Action on Hearing Loss.

Any sound over 85db is viewed as harmful to your hearing and a firework display averages around 120dB, which is the equivalent of a jet taking off.

But there is no reason to stop them from enjoying the show, so the charity has offered some top tips to protect your children from the cacophony of the festivities.

The main 3 tips they suggest are:

•  When attending the celebrations, wear noise-reducing ear defenders.
• Keep a good distance from all sources of loud noise – such as fireworks or speaker systems.
• Limit the duration of exposure to loud noises, as the louder the noise the less time it takes to damage hearing permanently.

These are really good tips and our hearing is certainly something we do all take for granted, I know we have previously taken the children to displays and had to clamp our hands over their ears when they have become distressed due to the loud bangs. Now we do make sure we are prepared and have ear-defenders for both children which we ensure to take with us. They have also recently been used in our house when playing with their new K’NEX rollercoster which is rather loud and will be handy for kids music events we attend.

It’s also very good practice to remind our children not to have their music playing through earphones too loudly as it can cause hearing damage too.

Disclaimer: We were sent some new ear defenders to help raise awareness of this charity and all the good work they do.

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