Your child must wear the correct protective gear whilst playing sport.

For example, eye goggles for squash and swimming, a helmet and guard for cricket or softball and goggles and helmets for skiing.

Your child should wear safety goggles if he or she is helping you in the garden, with woodwork or working with metal.

Safety goggles must be worn during science experiments at school.

Children who only have good vision in one eye should consider wearing safety glasses to protect this eye to protect this eye during his or her regular daily activities.

Educate your child that if he or she feels something in their eye, they must not rub. As it could scratch their eyeball. Rather encourage them to ask an adult to help them wash the object out of the eye with clean water.

Persistent rubbing due to itchy eyes can damage the eyes and change the shape of the eyeball.

Please take your child to be assessed by an eye specialist as this could be the sign of a more serious underlying condition.

Did You Know?
A squash ball is the perfect size to fit through the opening of the orbit and crush the eyeball? For such a small and soft ball, it can do an incredible amount of damage.

Did You Know?
On average, we blink 20 000 times a day?

This is extremely important as glasses helps create a clear image which is transferred to the visual area of he brain.

If a child has a need for glasses and does not wear them, the image that is transferred to the brain will be blurry and the brain will become confused. Over time, the brain may start to “ignore” this unclear information coming from that eye, resulting in irreversible vision loss. The same applies to a child who wears another child’s glasses.

Ensure that your child always reads in good lightning.

Remind your child to rest their eyes. With the digital age, a new concern is kids’ posture when looking at screens such as tablets or mobile phones. Prevent your child from holding these digital devices too close to their eyes.

A rule of thumb is to hold the device the distance from your chin to your elbow. Also, when looking at a tv, mobile or computer screen for long periods of time, follow the 20-20-20 rule; take a break every 20 minutes, for 20 seconds, by looking at something 20 feet (6 metres) away.

Did You Know?
Staring into the laser of a laser pointer can cause irreversible eye damage so remember to educate your child.

Encourage your kids to tell you or their teacher when their eyes feel tired, sore, itchy or they cannot see the blackboard. These complaints could indicate that there is a more serious underlying condition in the eye that should be assessed by an eye care specialist

Teach your child to wash their hands before touching their eyes. If your child or teen wears contact lenses, ensure that he or she follows your eye doctor’s instructions carefully for proper lens hygiene. If your teen wears makeup, ensure that brushes are cleaned regularly, and that old makeup is thrown away. Make up should never be shared.

Eating a balanced diet is essential for eye health.

Fresh fruits and vegetables such as green leafies like kale, spinach and broccoli are packed full of eye protecting nutrients as are oily fish, like salmon and tuna.

An active lifestyle has been shown to reduce the risk of developing a number of eye diseases as well as diabetes – a disease which can result in blindness.

Smoking has been linked to increased risk of a number of vision threatening eye diseases.

Don’t forget the most important tip of all – have regular annual eye check-ups by a qualified eye doctor!

Remember, school eye screenings do NOT constitute a formal eye exam. They are only checking for basic problems, but could miss a really serious condition that could adversely and permanently affect your child’s vision…

By teaching your children about eye health and safety at a young age, you are instilling in them habits that will enable them to take good care of their vision for the rest of their lives.