The kids are back in school; homework and assignments are piling up. Give your child every advantage by making sure his eyes and vision are ready to tackle the school year. A screening at school or at the pediatrician can detect a few basic eye problems, but it doesn’t compare to a complete eye examination.
I’ve dedicated this newsletter issue to our kids and their success in school.
Petaluma schools are transitioning to computers and tablets at school and at home. The increased use of electronic devices is very exciting for educators, but can cause an increase in headaches, sleeplessness and eyestrain for the student Some important facts about the increased use of electronic devices include:
Headaches, blurred vision and other related chronic discomforts are a result of increase stress on the visual system
Nearly 1 in 4 children are on digital devices 3 or more hours per day
School text books are rapidly moving to tablets
40% of young adults spend at least 9 hours per day on digital devices
For more information about your child’s eyes and digital eyestrain, click here.
Vision and Learning
Vision is a dominant process in the growth, development and daily performance of children. Many children with undetected vision problems struggle in the classroom.
Vision problems can affect comprehension, performance in reading and manifest as social, eye-hand coordination, discipline, or emotional problems. From there, such vision problems can impact the rest of your child’s life and ability to succeed.
The increase in the use of backlit screens like tablets, computers and phones also increases the amount of blue light exposure to our eyes.
Within the visible light spectrum there is “good blue light” and “bad blue light.” The good blue light helps our body’s biorhythms and sleep patterns. While overexposure to “bad blue light,” attacks us with a wide range of annoying and chronic conditions associated with Computer Vision Syndrome and Digital Eye Strain.
Besides turning the device off an hour before bedtime, there are anti-glare coatings that also block the bad blue light.
Does your Child
Lose place when reading
Avoid close work
Hold reading material closer than normal
Tend to rub eyes
Have headaches
turn or tilt head to use one eye only
Make frequent reversals when reading or writing
Use finger to maintain place when reading
Omit or confuse small words when reading
Consistently perform below potential
If your child does any of the above, make an appointment for an eye examination.
