Prevent Blindness Offers Assistance to Parents and Educators Regarding Healthy Eyesight for Children

Healthy eyesight can help improve a child’s chance at success in the classroom, so Prevent Blindness is asking parents to make an appointment for an eye exam for their children. In line, the association declared August as Children’s Eye Health and Safety Awareness month. The non-profit group has a variety of resources to help put children on the path to a lifetime of healthy vision:

• PreventBlindness.org includes free information on a variety of children’s eye health topics including amblyopia (lazy eye), strabismus (crossed eyes), UV-protection and sports safety.
• Through its National Center for Children’s Vision and Eye Health (NCCVEH), PB offers the online School Requirements for Children's Visionmap that provides information about state legislation for vision screening and/or mandated eye exams
• The Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) mandates that all health insurance include a pediatric vision benefit. In most states, that includes one comprehensive eye exam and one pair of eyeglasses. For more information, Prevent Blindness offers the fact sheet in English or Spanish, “The Affordable Care Act and Your Child's Eyes.”
• Prevent Blindness partners with programs such as VSP’s “Sight for Students,” “OneSight” from Luxottica, and “Let’s Go See” from Visionworks and Davis Vision, that provide free eye exams and glasses to children who qualify.
• For educators, Prevent Blindness offers the Star Pupils Eye Health and Safety Curriculum for grades K-2, 3-5 and 6-8. The program, which is available free for download upon request, provides teachers with interactive materials that help students learn the importance of sight, components of the eye and how we see, and how to identify objects and situations that can be dangerous to eyes. The program meets National Health, National Science and National Physical Education standards and includes lesson plans with presentation PowerPoints and teacher guides, in-class activities and take-home worksheets.

For more information on children’s eye health and safety, the NCCVEH, eye care assistance programs, or the Star Pupils Eye Health and Safety Curriculum, please call Prevent Blindness at (800) 331-2020.