World Listening Day

The 13th annual World Listening Day will be celebrated on July 18th, 2022. It was created to celebrate the practice of listening as it relates to the world around us, including environmental awareness, acoustic ecology, and opportunities to design and implement educational initiatives to stay safe and aware.

This year’s theme is “Listening Across Boundaries” and it invites us to explore the role of listening across branches of knowledge including scientific, medical, and musical purposes; and listening across cultures. According to the World Listening Project (WLP), this is a great time to raise awareness about the growing number of individual and group efforts that help creatively explore how we can all be better.

At I’m Safe, we understand listening is basic to health and survival of all life on Earth. We listen to the pain points from our community and the world news to help guide how we can best support the needs with child safety resources. Here are 4 fascinating statistics regarding the power of listening:

  • 70% of time spent during the day is engaged in some form of communication.
  • The average person hears between 20,000-30,000 words over a span of 24 hours.
  • There are 4 distinct styles of listening: Deep, Full, Critical, and Therapeutic.
  • 85% of what we learn is through listening.

The WLP also notes that in some human societies listening is under-valued and under-used and, as a result, individuals and societies succumb to a range of negative impacts that include psychological and cultural disconnection – and unsafe environments. According to the CDC, active listening is a good way to improve your communication with a child and lets them know that you are interested in what they have to say. Giving full attention to a child and making eye contact when you speak is most effective. Listening is a component of active supervision, a key practice for parents and caregivers when it comes to preventing childhood injuries.

Teaching our children how to listen and observe what is going on around them can also help prevent injuries and better ensure their safety. Examples include listening and watching for motor vehicles before crossing a street; paying attention to instructions from parents and teachers; hearing and acting on the need to put cell phones away and not drive distracted; and much more.

The kinds of teaching tools we create at I’m Safe! can help inspire listening, paying attention, and putting safety steps into practice. You can also leverage the power of listening by sharing I’m Safe Child Safety materials with your community.

For the month of July, please know that you can save 10% off Child Passenger Safety products when you spend $250 or more. Thank you for helping us spread the word and for helping people keep both eyes – and ears – open!