Protect your children's eyes
In a time when some young children know how to scroll before they know how to turn the page of a book, it is extremely important to make parents aware of the possible long-term damage screens can cause to their children’s eyes…
Young children are spending more and more time behind screens instead of playing outside. This is of course not a new trend. Ever since the introduction of smartphones and i-Pads people have been talking about the need for children to go and play outside. And we’ve been hearing warnings about the negative consequences of screens on our eyes for years now. Staring at a screen for long periods at a time can cause severe nearsightedness in the future. But there are still many parents out there who don’t seem to realize just how damaging screens are to their children’s eyes.
photos by DigiDaan
Dutch eyecare organization Het Oogfonds is launching a campaign that aims to raise awareness with parents – and their children – about this topic. The slogan ’20-20-2, daar red je je ogen mee!’ (20-20-2, saves your eyes!’) encourages parents to install some new rules around screen time. After 20 minutes behind a screen, you focus on something in the far distance for 20 seconds, and you have to make sure you spent at least 2 hours per day in the broad daylight. All this is to prevent children from developing nearsightedness later on in life.
To create even more awareness, Amsterdam’s science museum NEMO is working together with Oogfonds by dedicating the family exhibition ‘Zo te Zien’ (‘See it Your Way’) to seeing. It demonstrates how our eyes work and how special but also delicate they are.