I don’t think I’ll say anything new, but nevertheless, some information can be very useful. Especially for parents who are worried about the health of their child.

Surely no one will argue for sure that the computer affects vision quite negatively. In any case, when he is busy with work related to eye strain, the eyes quickly get tired, maybe even begin to water. The problem of people who work with computers can be compared to truckers who are on the road for a long time. Or also people who, in one way or another, should not tear themselves away from the book. The explanation is simple – the muscles that control the work of the eyes and focus them on a specific object are simply tired of overloading. Eyes can potentially get tired of any work that involves sight, but it is greatest where it is required to consider an object at close range.

The problem is further exacerbated if such activity is associated with the use of high-brightness devices, for example, the same computer monitor. Television has less effect on muscle fatigue, as the distance is usually quite acceptable. In children, and also to a lesser extent in adolescents, eyes especially often get tired, since they are not yet fully strengthened, they continue to grow. Therefore, parents should limit the time of playing CS and WoW :). As every parent can attest, these consequences are not necessarily limited to computer use. When children overdo it in any activity, they often become irritable, for example after completing lessons for a long time. If your child is more excited than usual, and there is no other obvious reason for this, then this may well be due to his long stay at the computer.

An overuse of the computer can also exacerbate pre-existing vision problems. Many children suffer from mild visual impairment, which can be regarded as minor problems. Over time, vision correction will be required here, but medical intervention may be avoided until adolescence or adulthood. But if children are too keen on the computer, spend all their free time playing games, then this minor problem can develop into something more that will require correction at an early age. Fortunately, most of these problems can be easily avoided with parental controls.

Here are some simple guidelines:

1. Limit the amount of time your child spends at the computer without interruption. It is recommended to take a short break every 15-20 minutes of working at the monitor. Better to limit the working time per day to 1-1.5 hours. The ideal discharge can be some kind of physical activity that does not require eye strain. Some experts offer eye exercises to help children avoid computer-related problems. It can be such simple exercises as, for example, tracking objects moving in the field of view, or concentration of sight on distant objects, a sharp change in distance from distant objects to near ones and vice versa. 2. It is also not bad to diversify the nature of the child’s activities at the computer. For example, games can be alternated with reading texts. Such alternation will require completely different behavior from young eyes with different behavior of objects on the screen and will prevent their rapid fatigue caused by prolonged concentration of vision on the same one. Another way to reduce the risk of visual impairment is to choose a good monitor, preferably with a high resolution. They are always more comfortable for our eyes than low-resolution monitors. 3. If, nevertheless, you and your children are going to sit at the computer for a long time, then you need to have a high-definition display. It is very important to take measures to reduce reflections from the monitor. Bright or uneven lighting in a room can cause unpleasant reflections on the screen. Possible solutions to this problem are to turn off the overhead lighting, draw up the curtains on windows that let in too much light, and rotate the monitor so that there are no bright light sources directly in front of it or behind it. If you are worried about reflections from the monitor or its own brightness, then you can install a special anti-glare screen in front of it. If, despite all these precautions, your child still complains of a headache, if his eyes become inflamed and itchy, or if he suddenly has difficulty reading or other school activities, if he becomes agitated or aggressive, then you it is necessary to show it to an ophthalmologist. Do not forget to mention that you have a computer at home and tell how much time your child spends at it. It is very important. The doctor can prescribe special exercises for the eyes or choose glasses for the child, designed specifically for working at the average distance, typical for a computer.