Keeping an “Eye” on your children during classes from home
The education system of our country has been greatly impacted by the pandemic, and online classes have become the norm. Prolonged screen time in front of computers and phones can have an impact on the eye health children and can cause redness, itching, watering, blurring of vision, and tiredness of eyes.
Here are some health tips which can help in reducing eye strain.
- Sitting upright on a chair is important to give full spine and shoulder support. Most chairs and tables are designed for adults and might be uncomfortable for children over long hours. Use of a pillow and a supporting footstool may make them more
comfortable. - The monitor should be a few inches below the eye level of the child so that they are looking down at the screen. The average font size should be kept above 12 to enable comfortable reading.
- Lighting is extremely important to reduce eye strain. Indirect lighting is the best for computer workrooms as glare is minimal. Tube lights overhead cause glare due to reflections off the screen and on the eye. Angle the monitor away from the light reflections or use an anti-reflection screen. Secondly, if there is a window behind your monitor or in front of it this only results in increased contrast and glare. So when at the monitor, let the windows be fully draped.
- Eye Hygiene: Keeping your eyes open for a long duration to watch the screen can cause increased evaporation of the tears and cause dryness and irritation. So please use the 20-20-20 rule. Take a break from any near work for 20 seconds for every 20
minutes of computer work by looking 20 feet away and blink several times. This enables better tear film stability.
If your child complains of more itching, eye strain, or blurring of vision, it may be due to an undetected refractive error or any weakness of eye muscles. A quick check-up with an ophthalmologist can help solve this problem.
It’s our endeavor that while our children continue to pursue their education during this pandemic, they should do so with the greatest ease and comfort.
