Music Therapy: A Peaceful Revolution
by DIKA SAPUTRA
You'll be in trouble with the law if you play your music too loudly in Rochester, New York. Anyone found violating local and state noise ordinances by means of overly loud "boom boxes," stereos, motorcycles, automobiles or loud partying will be ticketed.
New York City has also begun to oppose the bombardment of noise. Its Department of Environmental Protection has a Quality of Life Hotline. 70% of the calls received concern noise. Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg has established a Council on the Environment. There is a city wide group (with a somewhat unfortunate acronym) called Friends Against Noisy New York. On April 25th, there were observances of International Noise Awareness Day. The mayor also established Operation Silent Night, a citywide quality of life initiative to combat loud and excessive noise in New York City.
It's not that the state of New York is less tolerant than the rest of us. It's that they've realized something a lot of communities don't know yet.
We all know that we're exposed to more excessive noise today than at any other time in history. Modern life can seem like an ongoing struggle to rise above the din. Home life fills our ears with barking dogs, air conditioning units, televisions, boom boxes and the kitchen vent-a-hood. When we leave the house or office, we yell to be heard over construction projects, car alarms, traffic and other people's music. The list goes on and on. The US Census Bureau has reported that noise is Americans' top complaint about their neighborhoods and their main reason for wanting to move.
What New Yorkers have found and the rest of us need to know is that noise pollution is more than just annoying; It can be dangerous. One Rochester police officer explains that when blasting music in neighborhoods goes unchecked, it indicates that respect is not required. "This type of environment is friendly to other, more serious types of crimes," he says. That's why police officers and neighborhood residents have decided to crack down on excessive noise in their community. Police and concerned citizens have been walking the streets together, knocking on the doors of noisy neighbors and warning them about possible fines and legal action.
Noise is not only a health issue for communities, but also for individuals. Research has shown dramatic physiological effects from exposure to excessive noise. In addition to its damage to the ears, Dr. Luther Terry, former U.S. Surgeon General identifies a host of other negative health effects due to noise. A partial list includes cardiovascular constriction, elevated blood pressure, increased heart rate, more labored breathing, measurable changes in skin resistance and skeletal-muscle tension, digestive system changes, glandular activity that alters the chemical content of blood and urine, vestibular effects, balance sense effect and changes in brain chemistry. It bears repeating that this is just a partial list. Terry details the negative effect of noise on fetal development, as well.
The Surgeon General echoes the voices of many health professionals. Researchers have found that after extended exposure to high noise such as aircraft flyovers or workplace noise, blood pressure rises as much as 30%. Increasing the negative impact is the fact that blood pressure stays at that elevated level for a significant period after the exposure ends. So if you're close enough to a landing plane that your blood pressure rises, it stays up and affects your body long after the airplane noise is gone.
You don't have to live near an airport to be affected by traffic. Even noise that we might consider moderate has its effect. A German study found that those living on busy streets were 20% more likely to have a heart attack than those living on a quiet one.
Studies have also linked learning problems to noise. It affects the ability of children to learn to speak, to read, and to acquire knowledge in schools. These effects have been documented near airports, train tracks and major roadways. The inability to hear and understand all that a teacher is saying can translate to poor grades and could even lead to a higher dropout rate in schools.
Moreover, noise pollution has impact on the behavior of both children and adults. One study looked at how passers-by responded to a person in need in the presence of noise. While a noisy lawn mower roared nearby, a woman with a broken arm dropped some books and tried to pick them up. No one stopped to help her. When the lawnmower was turned off and the scene repeated, several people stopped to help her retrieve her books.
With all that being said, it's no wonder that Americans have more problems with sleeping, concentrating and dealing with stress in our noise-polluted environment. Fortunately, there is more to sound than the negative effects of noise. The opposite of noise is music. The ability of music to repair and encourage health and harmony is as powerful as noise's ability to destroy them. So powerful, in fact, that there is an entire field called music therapy.
