Problems of environmental noise pollution in Lusaka schools

This study is an ethical evaluation of problems of environmental noise pollution in four
school areas in M‘tendere in Lusaka, i.e., Mahatma Gandhi, Old M‘tendere, New M‘tendere
and Chitukuko Basic Schools. The study arose from the researcher‘s observation regarding
the increase in aggressive behaviours from children that live in peri-urban areas where noise
pollution is more prevalent. Due to non-existence of laws of country planning in these areas,
there is rampant encroachment on many school areas and residential houses by taverns, bars,
welding workshops and many other unplanned business ventures that produce deafening
noise at most times. Noise from these economic ventures has become a serious
environmental problem to the health of both adults and school-going children (Goines and
Hagler 2006).
The main objectives of the study were to establish the problems of environmental
noise pollution that influenced behaviour and the effective learning abilities of pupils in these
schools and to ethically evaluate the issue of environmental noise pollution in the indicated
school areas.
The study adopted qualitative methodology that involved the use of mixed research,
consisting of an empirical part and an ethical analysis part. Data was collected using a
questionnaire administered to the 80 pupils in the same schools and interviews with parents,
teachers, businessmen and two officials, each from Zambia Environmental Management
Agency (ZEMA) and Lusaka City Council Public Health Department. Many problems of
environmental noise pollution were elicited from data that was collected. Decreased
academic concentration and comprehension ability, decreased motivation and attention span,
deterioration of hearing loss, high pitched speech stimulation and exhibition of aggressive
behaviour towards one another in terms of perceived mistake made were some of the
problems established from the findings of the study. A comparative analysis of the numbers
of pupils that sat for final examinations with those that failed in each of the previous three
years, reflected low academic performance of children in the studied areas of M‘tendere.
The ethical evaluation used a contemporary version of Utilitarianism and ruleutilitarianism,
the Precautionary Principle and selected Human Rights to come up with an
ethical evaluation stance of noise pollution for the Government and the people in these noise
prone areas to consider. The arguments posed conflicting interests between the demands for a
serene learning environment that promotes the learning and health of pupils, against the
socio-economic pursuits of business entrepreneurs. Yet the overall ethical evaluation
concluded that noise pollution was a factor that negatively affected the school-going children
and influenced their socio-emotional development and learning ability in schools.
Finally, the study made five recommendations. Among them are the legislation
against noise pollution, the introduction of insulation policy of classrooms in noise prone
areas and a more serious consideration of the inner most body environment of the people
themselves, should be among the primary things to consider in all what is done for the
sustenance of healthy bodies and minds.