Your Child and Computer Eyestrain

Many children spend lots of time on the computer, whether they are doing their schoolwork, or just having fun. And, the more time they spend looking at a monitor, the more they are at risk of suffering from computer eyestrain.

Children who have computer eyestrain can experience many unpleasant symptoms, like headaches, double vision, and blurred vision. And some eye doctors believe computer eyestrain is to blame for many of the vision problems being experienced by their young patients.

Fortunately, there are some simple things you can do to help protect your child from computer eyestrain.

Making your child take breaks can help prevent computer eyestrain.

It's not unusual for a child to be on the computer for hours at a time, stopping only to grab a quick snack. But, about once an hour, encourage your child to do something else for at least ten minutes.

Limiting your child's daily computer use to just a few hours a day can also help prevent computer eyestrain.

Bright overhead lights can contribute to computer eyestrain.

Your child shouldn't be using a computer in a room that's too bright. As a general rule, you want the illumination in the room to be about the same as that coming from the screen of the monitor.

Also, if the overhead light is on, and in your child's direct line of sight when they are looking at their monitor, this can cause them visual discomfort, and eventually lead to computer eyestrain. Even if the desk is facing away from the overhead light, the glare the light casts on the screen can also contribute to computer eyestrain.

Encourage your child to switch off any bright, overhead lights when they are using the computer.

Light from a window can lead to computer eyestrain.

If you're child's desk faces a window, the sunlight shining directly into their eyes while they're trying to read what's on the computer screen can be hard on their eyes. And, if their desk is faced away from the windows, the glare daylight casts on the screen can also contribute to computer eyestrain.

When you're child is using the computer, make sure the windows are covered by blinds, shades, or curtains.

A poor monitor can cause computer eyestrain.

Turn on the computer your child uses and look at the monitor. Is there a flicker effect, sort of like the kind you'd get from a fluorescent light? Looking at a screen that has this flicker can contribute to computer eyestrain. You can reduce this flicker effect by lowering the brightness of the monitor's screen, but this can cause problems too. So, you might want to think about buying a new monitor.

Poor monitor positioning can cause computer eyestrain.

Most children use monitors that are about at head level, so they have to look at them straight on. And some computer desks are designed so that the monitor sits even higher than that, so the child has to look up at the screen. But it's actually more natural to look down to read than to look straight ahead or up. So, to help prevent computer eyestrain, the monitor should be positioned so that the center of the screen is from 6 to 10 inches below your child's horizontal line of sight.

Try this. Imagine your child sitting at their desk and looking straight ahead. The top of the monitor should be just below their eyes.

By protecting your child from computer eyestrain, you'll also be protecting them from pain, discomfort, and a host of potential vision problems.