Sound good? parliamentary event: report from Megan Farman

Megan Farman, a 14 year old deaf young person, from the North London Deaf Children's Society, was one of several children who came to the NDCS parliamentary event on the 9th June to demand action on acoustics in schools. Below, Megan gives the low down on how she came to play a leading role in the NDCS Sounds good? campaign.

"On Tuesday 9^th June, I went to the House of Commons to present the National Deaf Children's Society's Sounds good? campaign and an acoustic computer simulation which was created by David Canning to the MPs. There were three simulations: firstly, a classroom with very poor acoustics and lots of background noise; secondly, the same classroom but with less background noise; and thirdly, a classroom with very good acoustics.

The Sounds good? campaign was chosen to be presented this year as many schools are being rebuilt across Britain. Many of the schools have not been following the guidelines for acoustics; it is all too easy for a school to apply for a certain room not to be treated. This causes many problems.

Of the schools that do take the test, only around half actually pass. More attention needs to be paid to these rules. The aim of the campaign is not only to raise awareness but also to pass a law which would make it illegal for schools not to have the tests taken. We know that if something has a test at the end of it , it is an incentive for them to do it right.

Recently, new schools have been built as open plan, with high ceilings and lots of glass. As 'pretty' or modern as they may be, the hard surfaces and large spaces create 'bad' acoustics. Education is our future!

I found out about this through the North London Deaf Children’s Society which I am proud to have been a member of for the last seven years and I thought that it should be looked into. After a few emails had been exchanged, it was arranged that I would go up to the NDCS headquarters in London for training. After meeting the campaign’s team, further arrangements were made and I left the building with some information and having requested for a report with statistics to be emailed to me. Then all that was left was for me to wait for the day!

Then before I knew it I was off to the breathtaking House of Commons...

No, really it was. In my opinion, the place very much resembled a Church, a mark of its long history. A sign of it's not so pleasant past was the spot where King Charles was beheaded.

On entering the House of Commons we had to pass through the security. I must hasten to add that my picture looked very little like me on my security pass, perhaps because I was confused about what I was meant to be doing. Admittedly standing on some foot prints and looking at a screen but the man who was telling me what to do was making gestures to the neck loop I was wearing - he could have just said he wanted to attach the paper onto it instead of just pointing and reaching for it.

The House of Commons are enormous, we could have easily gotten lost, in fact we almost ended up in the Prime Minister's office!

The lobbying took place in the Pitt Committee Room – the room is named after William Pitt the elder, the youngest Prime Minister ever. He was only 20 years old when he entered the office.

Once it had all started up, I had the opportunity to talk to many MPs. I had much fun explaining what the campaign was about. Although at first it was my turn to be in the photo area and, as all the MPs wanted their photos taken, even the ones who had their simulations with other people came to me to have the photos taken. So those conversations were shorter and more down to the point. However, once my turn was over and I was moved to the 'quieter' area, I was able to have longer and more in-depth and off topic conversations with them. Even then a few got hurried on as someone else wanted me to show the simulation and explain it to them.

Glasses are prescribed to give 20/20 vision to those with poor eye sight and ramps can be installed for wheelchair users but the deaf are often overlooked. Many people incorrectly assume that because you wear hearing aids that this gives you perfect hearing. This is just not the case and it is this kind of misunderstanding that leads people not to make the correct provisions.

After what I felt was a very successful session was finished, I was offered the opportunity to have an interview with BBC's 'See Hear' film crew. We had to be filmed outside the House of Commons as filming was not permitted in the Pitt Committee Room. It was odd to be facing a different person to who was speaking and to have a grey bobble stuck in my face (the microphone); also to have to repeat the questions that were being asked. Questions were asked with no prior warning as to what they might be, so it was rather natural and the questions were about how I felt the lobbying had gone.

I felt the day ran smoothly and that the MPs were impressed and took on board the seriousness of bad acoustics in schools. I believe that we will have many votes for our cause; as many of the MPs worry horrified at how little could be heard in the simulations. One MP even said that there was no reason why anyone should vote against this!

Overall, the experience was very much amazing. The MP’s thought that the simulation gave them an insight to something that was often over looked and I had a jolly good time explaining what it was about.

I hope you too feel this is an important issue and you can make a difference by clicking on this link below. An email will be sent to your local MP highlighting the issues around acoustics in schools. Please help us to shape our future for better acoustics in schools and every child will benefit."

More information:

Deaf young people from St. Paul's Way Community School have also reported back about their experiences on the day. See what they had to say >

Photo gallery for the Sounds good? parliamentary event.

NDCS's Sounds good? campaign for better acoustics.