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to interrupted sleep as well. This happens due to being exposed to blue light emitting from digital screens,which puts huge stress on the eyes as they work to keep refocusing. Also, certain bands of blue light may be harmful to the retina of the eye over time. There are tips that can help in reducing the amount of your child's exposure to blue light such as, wearing blue light blocking glasses, adding blue light screen lters that stick directly to the screen and controlling time of screen activity.
Encourage physical activity and outdoor playtime
Nowadays, kids are less active than ever before due to quarantine during COVID-19 and at-home learning that could make it worse. There are numerous bene ts of playing outdoors not only helpful for a child’s physical well-being, but it can also slow the progression of nearsightedness in kids. Also, playing outside allows children’s eyes to focus over long distances while getting more sun bene ts for vitamin D production and lots of physical activity and developing cognitive skills.
Build an eye-healthy lifestyle at home
Parents should teach their children helpful tips concerning their eye and vision health such as implementing a no-screentime 1-2 hours before bedtime. Children should practice the 20/20/20 rule when using screen devices. Every 20 minutes, look away from the screen for 20 seconds and focus on something at least 20 feet away. Monitor your child's distance from the screen by keeping it 18 to 24 inches away from the face.
There is a software program or applications on digital
devices that turns the screen off automatically at set times to limit your child’s use time. Parents have to check on the screen position so that your kid looks slightly down at it, not up. And adjust lighting to eliminate glare on the screen.
When planning for the future of education in the age of COVID-19, schools and policymakers must account for children’s vision needs while designing new initiatives. Schools, teachers and parents can all work together to design eye health strategies and protect children as they learn online with this “new norm” of education.
References
The Impact of Virtual Learning On Children's Vision. (2020, July 28).https:// tnessgram.net/impact-of- virtual-learning-on-childrens-vision/
School's not out forever: Why 'back-to-school' exams are crucial this year. https://www.aoa.org/ news/practice-management/perfect-your-practice/ why-back-to-school-eye-exams-are-crucial-this- year?sso=y
Winther, D., & Byrne, J. (2020, April 07). Rethinking screen-time in the time of COVID-19.https://www. unicef.org/globalinsight/stories/rethinking-screen- time-time-covid-19
Parents: Do you think your child might have a learning-related vision problem? (2020, August 20) https://www.allaboutvision.com/parents/learning. htm
Forster, V. (2020, June 02). Are Your Eyes Hurting During The Coronavirus Pandemic? You May Have "Computer Vision Syndrome".https://www.forbes. com/sites/victoriaforster/2020/06/01/are-your-eyes- hurting-during-the--coronavirus-pandemic-you- may-have-computer-vision-syndrome/
69 EYEZONE Issue 91-92 May / August 2020