I worked in a school cafeteria and was off work for 3 weeks because of vocal chord swelling. The school superintendent insisted I return to work even though I was not healed and my doctor told him I was not to use my voice at all on the job. That was impossible, as the superintendent knew, and I ended up suffering permanent vocal chord injury. Warning to teachers: don't try to talk over the noise. Make the little buggers be quiet or don't give credit for any work that day.

Janet Fuls, Cottonwood, CA USA

Daft! It's bad enough that many teachers don't have enough knowledge to teach a subject, but now it seems they don't even know how to speak in front of groups. When will we rescue students from gross incompetence!

James Bryant, Riverside, CA, USA

Sound field amplification is well researched and has little to do with classroom discipline. Considering the fact that the human auditory system is not fully developed until the mid teen years, sound field amplification provides a simple yet effective technology that enhances the signal to noise ratio thus allowing the auditory (speech) signal to reach the brain more completely and more accurately. I would suggest the following book for those who are interested in pursuing this very important topic in more depth; “Sound Field Amplification: Applications to Speech Perception and Classroom Acoustics" by Carl C. Crandell (Author), Carol Flexer (Author), Joseph J. Smaldino (Author).

Bill Sabo, Columbus, USA/Ohio

I am a primary school teacher and have been off work since April because I lost my voice very seriously due to not just talking over noise but just having to talk a lot. When my voice started to go pressure was put on me not to stop working. I caused a lot of damage. I think that having an amplifier (which I have now) would have helped prevent this. What a lot of people don't understand is teachers do have to talk over noise because children have to talk to learn during lessons. Group work for example is going to be noisy. Also things like PE require teachers to project over distances. The suggestions above have clearly been made my people who have no idea what teaching * actually* entails and the pressure teachers are under which contributes to their voice problems.

L Jones, Derbyshire, UK

How long before Little Johnny sues for the resultant hearing damage?

Simon, Sevenoaks,

It's easy for teachers to say students need to be quiet; we're the ones who get to talk and move around the classroom. Teacher groups are some of the noisiest I've presented to because they can't keep their yaps shut. Thank goodness conference centers have PA systems for even small rooms.
The reality is that the professional workplace has gotten creative. It no longer relies on quiet, compliant employees. Offices are noisy and most professions now require multi-tasking. If we're going to prepare students for the world of work, classrooms should emulate that environment. Too many of the comments here seem to suggest we're preparing to send kids to live in a church.

Steve, Milledgeville, GA

This story seems to have woken up a number of teachers who, to put it mildly, are out of date with modern research on the subject of classroom acoustics. They may not remember bored and distracted children but I do, from being taught in the 50's and 60's. Children may have been quiet - but that didn't stop them daydreaming and doodling becasue they couldn't hear properly. They have also forgotten how common sore throats are for teachers in the weeks after starting a new term.
No teacher would now deny the benefits of electric lighting in a classroom to see properly, so why resist the benefits of a properly designed soundfield speech enhancement system that does the same for speech and hearing? The RNID reckon that a third of children have a hearing impairment at any one time in a classroom, due to colds, glue ear, etc. Are you going to deny them proper teaching because you can't be bothered to take new technology on board?

Stephen Mitchell, London, UK

In the Fifties, me and my fellow grade-schoolers were
silent during class and in the hallways, then we let loose
during play period.

It's obscene!, that students aren't controlled by teachers;
that is, that unruly chidren run the classroom--the
school!

Liberals' liberalism (aka feminism) is destroying the West.

Deacon, Richmond,

I am a high school teacher. The whole approach to this issue is absurd! Put simply: The kids need to keep their yappers shut.

I have noticed this problem gradually worsen over the past three decades. When students are taught about R-E-S-P-E-C-T, and teachers are permitted to enforce discipline at a traditionally strict level rather than the modern level, then we'll see focused kids who are ready to learn.

Treating the kids the way we do in most modern schools send the message to them that THEY, the communities children, are running things and NOT the communities adults.

When we cater to this lack of young people's respect and discipline, we become enablers and create an enabled generation with entitilement mentality. God help us!

In the meantime, don't be surprised when your tech support calls are all routed to India, where schools 1.) inculcate an old-fashioned work ethic, and 2.) laziness and disrespect are stygmatized.

J, St. Louis, MO USA

It's unfortunate that some schools have ceded control of the classrooms to students. Rather than deal with the discipline issue, these schools are attempting a war of volume.

When I was new to teaching I did attempt to talk over students' conversations. Now I know better. I'm the adult in the room. They WILL listen. With practice, I get better at this year after year.

An orderly classroom is fundamental to education. Orderly classrooms exist all over the world in all environments. Schools need to take back the classroom from the students.

Jason Waskiewicz, Bowman, North Dakota, USA

I'm a third grade teacher of ESL in Buenos Aires, Argentina. I use many techniques to have their silence and attention. Some days I'd draw a big "S" -i.e. silence- on the board (always the same corner). Other days I play one special song which always calms them down (The Painter, by neil Young). Some other times I just fold my arms in silence waiting for theirs. In a nutshell, I NEVER shout. You need to get your sts. used to low volume voice from the very beginning of the year.

Mariana, Capital Federal, Argentina

I''m a teacher in Los Angeles. I turn my back on the class and make tally marks until they become very quiet. The tally marks are to idicate how much recess they will miss.
They quickly become quiet. I teach 3rd grade.

Ann Mere, Los Angeles, CA U.S.A.

My teacher would just STAND there... forever if need be.
WHEN it got silent, she would speak - and not before.

Justa Thought, Indiana, USA

My teacher went one step further and would slam a snooker cue onto a classroom table to instill silence. Which of course led to the inevitable shrieks of laughter upon the day that the cue finally snapped!


Another used to insist that the 'good students' (who actually wanted to work) sat at the back of the classroom. She then proceeded to talk in hushed tones that were audible only when the class was silent. The hard workers at the rear controlled their noisier fellows infront making her life much easier.

Neil, Bristol,

Sad, isn't it, that the problem exists at all.

"SILENCE!" was all it once took to save a teachers voice.

Mike Poulsen, Reading, Berkshire

Teachers are already taught about how to sensibly address the classroom: when I did a PGCE in 2003 we were advised on methods of gaining children's attention (such as using musical instruments, mimicking games where the children follow the teacher's movements in silence etc, with rewards for the children who reacted most quickly) and only spoke once the children were quiet and focused. Not shouting over the noise of children talking not only protects the teacher's voice, but makes for a calmer classroom.

njl, London,