How much noise is too much for children to learn?

Studies find noise and the growing brain don’t always mix. Plus: We talk to a teacher on the anniversary of a school shooting in Uvalde; the Ed Department takes a look into book banning in Georgia; and we get some new insight into the teenage brain. [View this email online]( [NPR Education]( May 28, 2023 --------------------------------------------------------------- LA Johnson/NPR Happy Sunday, y’all. LA Johnson here – an editor and multimedia journalist at NPR. I hope you’re getting some rest, or at least some peace and quiet. Speaking of quiet, I published a story this week about the benefits of silence and the useful role it can play in education, and the issues that its contrast – noise – can cause in developing minds. That's because if noise is just, well, noise, it distracts young brains and makes it more difficult for children to concentrate. For my story, I spoke with researchers, teachers, and parents about what they know noise does to their kids and students behavior. And how silence can be used creatively in the classroom. "[Young children's] brains are craving sound-to-meaning connections, so it's very important that the sounds around them be nourishing and meaningful," says Nina Kraus, a neurobiologist at Northwestern University. She believes turning down the noise in our lives starts with embracing — even enjoying — silence. "I think that we need to be able to honor silence," Kraus says. "And there's something almost mystical there. You know, may we have a moment of silence? It's really a time to kind of get into yourself." But silence is difficult to find and to create — for adults and kids alike -– and your brain has to work overtime to ignore sounds. "We can close our eyes, we can avert our gaze, but we hear in 360 degrees," says Emily Elliott, a psychology professor at Louisiana State University who studies memory and cognition. But as many of us parents have discovered, there are ways to help dampen the auditory world around us. From simple things like turning off the TV, to running white noise machines. One good metric to use is, "Does this need to exist?" Read the full story here to understand the science behind how our brains process and react to sounds, especially when learning. At the end of the story, I’ve gathered some tips from parents and teachers on how to make our noisy worlds a bit quieter. [I hope you enjoy this read.]( — [LA Johnson]( Multimedia Journalist and Editor, NPR [Read More]( --------------------------------------------------------------- Newsletter continues after sponsor message --------------------------------------------------------------- Now, let’s get into some news … In an honest conversation with NPR, elementary teacher Nicole Ogburn [talks about the fallout]( from the deadly mass shooting one year ago at Robb Elementary in Uvalde, Texas. On May 24, 2022, a gunman killed 19 students and two teachers. Ogburn helped her students escape through a bullet-shattered window that day. — National Desk, NPR In a new report, the [U.S. Department of Education has found]( that a Georgia school district may have created a hostile environment for students by banning certain books from its libraries. "We're allowing people who don't believe in this system to come in and destroy it," one mother said. — [Ayana Archie]( [Bill Chappell]( Newsdesk Reporters, NPR [For the parents and teachers of teenagers]( adolescence can be a challenging time. But to a brain scientist, it's a marvel. "It's an incredible brain," says Beatriz Luna, professor of psychiatry and pediatrics at the University of Pittsburgh. "It's just perfect for what it needs to do. And what it needs to do is gain experiences." — [Jon Hamilton]( Science Correspondent, NPR A moment of joy before you go … In my nearly decade of working on education stories, i’ve noticed that so often as journalists, we’re left with a sense that maybe we could do more if we had more time. [Here is a story about one former journalist in Cleveland who is doing just that.]( Cameron Fields is making the jump from journalist to teacher in the hope he can continue to make an impact inside the classroom. — [Manuela López Restrepo]( Production Assistant, All Things Considered, NPR --------------------------------------------------------------- Listen to your local NPR station. Visit NPR.org to find your local station stream. [Listen Live]( [Facebook]( [Instagram]( [Twitter]( What do you think of today's email? We'd love to hear your thoughts, questions and feedback: [npred@npr.org](mailto:npred@npr.org?subject=Newsletter%20Feedback) Enjoying this newsletter? Forward to a friend! 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