Kingsgrove school makes sunglasses part of uniform after study show sun damaging kids’ eyes
IT’S long been a case of no hat, no play, but now eye doctors want schools to make sunglasses compulsory too — and a Kingsgrove school is leading the charge.
The Express
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IT’S long been a case of no hat, no play, but now eye doctors want schools to make sunglasses compulsory too — and a Kingsgrove school is leading the charge.
Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Primary School introduced sunglasses as part of the school uniform in term four last year.
The school got serious about eye safety after former principal Anne Colreavy read some alarming research by eye surgeons Dr Shanel Sharma and Dr Alina Zeldovich.
In a study, co-authored by Dr Sharma, up to 29 per cent of children aged 9 to 11 were found to have eye damage from the sun and this figure reached 81 per cent in kids between 12 to 15 year olds.
“It was new information for me, it just caused me to think just as we need hats to protect our skin, we need sunglasses to protect our eyes,” Ms Colreavy said.
Ms Colreavy then invited the eye surgeons to speak to school staff and parents about the importance of eye protection.
The school stocks sunglasses with UV 400 protection that offer maximum protection with a wraparound frame.
While not compulsory yet — new principal Anthony Weir said it might not be far off.
“It’s become common practice to protect our heads, this is just the early years of schools supporting the message that we need to protect our eyes,” Mr Weir said.
“It’s early days but we’re keen to see it grow.”
Dr Sharma said it said most UV damage is due to childhood exposure, when the eye has the least developed natural protective mechanisms.
“UV light reaches peak levels at different times of the day, at different times of the year, and will vary with direct light and or reflected light,” Dr Sharma said.
“In short, our children should be wearing sunglasses all the time when outside.”
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