Evening star., 1938-09-22
Make Child
Wear His
Glasses
Hidden Spectacles
Will Not Correct
Defective Sight.
BY ANGELO PATRI.

WHEN a school child has been fitted
with glasses, under the spe-
cialist's orders. he should wear them
as directed. not as he chooses. Chill
dren rarely want to wear glasses Their
heads don't ache all the time. and
they are not convinced that their poor
work is caused by bad vision. Some
body told them SO, but then. somebody
is always telling them. GLASSES are
nuisance" So they are left at
home, or hidden in school bags or
pockets. That is not good for the
tired or defective eyes that need help.
Classroom work is trying on the
pupils eyes under the best conditions.
If the eyes are tired, or weak, or
defective, they cannot withstand the
strain as well as when they are per-
feet, and If perfect eyes tire. what
must happen to the already strained
eyes?
Eyes are so precious, vision is so
important, that children should be
trained to protect themselves against
any loss of seeing power. They do
not know what we are talking about
when We warn them about the light,
and the close print, and the way
they are sitting and holding their
books. They wish we would let them
alone, and tell us so. But that does
not lessen our responsibility. They
show us they do not understand the
Importance of vision, so we have to
make an extra effort to persuade
them to care.
All children should be watched and
warned and guided toward good sense
in the use of their eyes and their
glasses. School children often have
weaknesses slight defects, which if
properly met with glasses disappear;
but which, if neglected, remain to
plague the children for all their days.
Many times the glasses do their work
so successfully that they can be laid
away for good, but if they are left
on the table or hidden in the book
bag they cannot do much toward
that happy ending.
Children should be prepared before
hand when it is known they have
to have glasses. They can be told
about the need for them, and their
protests answered kindly and truth
fully. Girls need not always wear
glasses to parties. Maybe using them
while they read is enough. The same
for the boys.
Encourage them by telling them
about the workers who wear glasses.
Men using drills wear glasses to pro-
tect their eyes from the light and
from flying particles Scientists use
all sorts of lenses to add power to
their eyes, as we'll as glasses for pro-
lection. So do jewelers., and miners,
and aviators. All intelligent workers
use glasses to protect their eyes while
they work. That includes school chill
dren
Make certain that the glasses are
really suited to the child's eyes. The
recognized specialist is the one to
assure this. Then watch to see that
the glasses are always in good shape
They get rough usage and it is easy
to put them out Of line. If that
happens, if lens is tilted ever SO
slightly off its true line, headaches
and general discomfort will result, and
OF course the child will not want
glass that is not in perfect adjust
ment.
When glasses suit the child's eyes
and are accurately fitted to his nose
and his ears, he will forget the has
them on. They will help him so
much that he will not want to forget
them. In any case. train him to
wear them faithfully and ask the
teachers to help.
(Copyright, 1889