The age at which kids are starting to embrace digital device use is younger than ever before.
According to recent studies, children as young as two generally spend up to 2.5 hours a day with
some form of tech. Data from the nonprofit Common Sense Media revealed that startlingly high
screen use is consistent across juvenile demographics, with evidence that these numbers only get
higher with age. This is understandable, given that most aspects of contemporary life, from
recreation to learning, are now rooted online.
While this access to technology is not all bad, excessive exposure from a young age can create
serious health issues. Chief among these are vision concerns since children’s eyes are still
developing, and digital devices like monitors can put an unnatural strain on the organs. With that,
here are three realistic yet effective ways you can help protect your kids’ eyesight as they grow
up in an increasingly digital world.
Schedule regular eye exams
The eyes are highly sensitive organs that are in development until about the age of 20. As a result,
it doesn’t take very much for them to incur damage, especially when fatigued after extended
screen use. For kids who don’t even have fully formed protective eye lenses yet, this damage can
happen even faster. Unfortunately, it’s common for these issues to be overlooked as most eye
conditions are subtle until significant vision loss occurs. In other cases, younger kids may not
have the awareness or vocabulary to tell adults that something is wrong.
The proactive approach here is to take your kids for an eye exam at least once a year. Now, they
are easy to access thanks to chain retailers such as Target Optical, and the eye exams are led by
doctors of optometry. Consequently, they can assess and measure a patient’s eyesight. This can
lead to timely diagnoses that can help address budding problems before they worsen. At the very
least, this can also help you connect with a healthcare professional who can provide personalized
eye health tips. This way, your child can grow up with a tailored approach to eye care that can
match their unique needs.
Provide eye safety tools
Overusing devices is harmful to the eyes largely because of the light they emit. For one, displays
are among the top artificial sources of blue light, which has been connected to ocular fatigue. At
the same time, most screens are too bright, leading to the eyes having to focus more and blink
less. In some cases, the lights themselves may flicker, further creating painful and damaging eye
strain.
So, it goes without saying that protective tools are essential nowadays. The easiest type to buy for
your kids are blue light screen protectors. For instance, the options from manufacturer Eyesafe
have been found to cut down blue light penetration so effectively that up to 50% of surveyed
users said they noticed an eye strain reduction. Since these products are also stuck directly onto
the devices, they are great for kids who may not want to wear the usual blue light glasses. They
also circumvent the issue of children forgetting to wear their protective gear. Such efforts can be
especially useful for very young children or those who are already using other corrective eyewear
and don’t want to have to reacquaint themselves with new tools.
Manage screen time with apps
At the end of the day, observing proper limits is still critical. After all, it doesn’t matter how
many other helpful measures you apply if the root cause of potential problems is still very much
present. As such, it pays to enact hard device cut-offs. To start, you can take your cue from our
tips on unplugging from social media by establishing no-screen hours. This can be set around
specific parts of your child’s routine, like during meal times or while getting ready for bed. In this
way, they learn to associate other aspects of their day outside of screens.
Most kids are stubborn, so management apps can be a big help. For example, Google Family Link
is one free app that parents can download for iPhones and Androids. Using this, you can track
which apps or sites kids visit, block certain applications, and schedule periods when the device
becomes inaccessible.
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