From the moment we enter this world, we are surrounded by noise. We wake up to the buzz of an alarm clock and struggle between car horns and trains to get to work. While these events individually may be insignificant to an individual's auditory sensitivity or physiological health, it has been found that early and prolonged exposure to noise can have both short- and long-term consequences on an individual's life. These negative consequences include difficulties with cognitive development, psychological distress, noise-induced tinnitus, and permanent noise-induced hearing loss. These studied consequences shed light on the importance of preventive actions and awareness of hearing health for parents, educators and healthcare professionals. NOISE AND COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT Early exposure to noise has been shown to affect the cognitive development of children. These adverse effects on cognitive function include reading comprehension, long-term memory, and attention/concentration (Corra et. al, 2009). A review by Bridget M. Shield points out that “the effects of chronic noise exposure on children are problems with sustained attention and visual attention; poor auditory discrimination and speech perception; poorer memory for tasks; and poorer reading ability” (Shield et. al, 2003). Other studies have revealed that, aside from simple learning, children chronically exposed to noise are less motivated when placed in successful situations and tend to have a lower tolerance for frustration (Bistrup et. al, 2001). This wide range of negative effects on cognitive development at such a crucial period in the learning process is bound to influence the child's educational progress through… half of the article… Vermeer W (2001). Health effects of noise on children and perception of noise risk. National Institute of Public Health, Denmark.Corra L, Jungwon Y (2009). Children and noise. WHO training package for the health sector. Available at: http://www.who.int/ceh/capacity/noise.pdfHolgers KM, Pettersson B (2005). Noise exposure and subjective hearing symptoms among children in Sweden. Noise and Health, Volume 7, Number 27, 27-37Matheson MP, Stansfel SA, Haines MM (2003). The effects of chronic exposure to aircraft noise on children's cognition and health: 3 field studies. Noise health. Available from: http://www.noiseandhealth.org/text.asp?2003/5/19/31/31700 Shield BM, Dockrell JE (2003). The effects of noise on children at school: a review. J. BuildingAcoustics 10(2), 97-106.