Some 570 Hawke's Bay students will take part in the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Foundation’s Year 9 screening programme during Hearing Awareness Month in March.
Some 570 Hawke's Bay students will take part in the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Foundation’s Year 9 screening programme during Hearing Awareness Month in March.
About 100 Hawke’s Bay teens will this month learn they have put themselves at risk of irreversible hearing loss, and some may already need hearing aids.
Some 570 students from five of the region’s secondary schools will take part in the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Foundation’s Year 9 screeningprogramme during Hearing Awareness Month in March.
The foundation’s in-school assessments have shown unsafe listening practices are rife among young people, with about one in five students reporting ringing in their ears.
In the past two years, 22% of the pupils screened presented signs of tinnitus, while 20% listened to earbuds or headphones at maximum volume.
Deaf and Hard of Hearing Foundation chief executive Natasha Gallardo said a quarter of the students reported listening through headphones for five to seven hours a day.
“Prolonged use, even at lower levels, can exacerbate the risk of damaging your ears. And once you lose hearing you cannot get it back,” she said.
Deaf and Hard of Hearing Foundation chief executive Natasha Gallardo says unsafe listening habits are putting many teenagers at risk of permanent hearing damage.
The World Health Organisation estimates 1.1 billion young people are at risk of hearing loss because of unsafe listening habits.
Left unaddressed, the organisation says it not only affects a child’s ability to hear but significantly impacts speech, language, cognitive and social development, commonly leading to poorer educational outcomes, reduced employment prospects and long-term economic disadvantages.
The screening programme has expanded since launching in 2019, with more than 40,000 Year 9 students checked across New Zealand. This year it is set to reach 100 schools, up from 88 in 2025 and 64 in 2024.
In the past two years, 624 students were referred for further hearing assessments, with 85 later needing hearing aids.
Ringing in the ears, otherwise known as tinnitus, which in most cases leads to hearing loss, was self-reported by 23% of students in 2025 and 58% in 2024.
Gallardo said these figures underscore the persistent risk young people face and the need for stronger hearing health awareness.
“They are at an age where hearing loss can impact their education, so it’s important to detect their hearing loss and get them the support they need,” she said.
“We need to make students aware that small changes, such as lowering the volume or taking breaks, can protect their hearing.”
