As students head back to school, eye specialists in Maryland say one of the most important items on the checklist – children’s eye health – often gets overlooked.
“It’s not easy to learn what you can’t see,” said Dr. Megan Collins, a pediatric ophthalmologist with Johns Hopkins Wilmer Eye Institute. “One of the things that we see all the time is kids don’t complain about eye problems, they don’t say ‘I can’t see, mom or dad, take me to the eye doctor.'”
Importance of vision screenings
Dr. Collins said vision screenings are often the first line of defense, especially since many eye issues in children don’t cause obvious symptoms.
“It’s often asymptomatic, and that’s why we emphasized why vision screenings are so important as a first point,” she said.
In Maryland, those screenings are built into the school year. Collins noted that the state mandates vision checks for school-aged children. This means parents can expect their child to be screened in class.
Still, she warns families not to rely solely on that safeguard.
When to call a doctor
Collins said parents should follow up with a doctor “if they are noticing something, like if their child’s eyes are red or if they are rubbing their eyes a lot, if they see them crossing their eyes or their eyes drifting outwards. If they see something in their eyes that just doesn’t seem quite right.”
The biggest threat in 2025 may not be the blackboard, but the screens in a child’s hands. Collins said extended device use can cause digital eye strain.
“From an eye perspective, the one big challenge of being on devices is kids staring at the devices, and they don’t blink a ton,” she explained. “They can certainly get something called digital eye strain. Their eyes feel sore, they feel dry, partially because they spend so much time looking at a device.”
To combat the effects of screen time, Collins recommends the “20-20-20 rule,” where every 20 minutes, you take a 20-second break by looking 20 feet away.
“That helps relax your eyes,” Collins said. “I also recommend that when they are doing that, they should walk around.”
Spotting eye health concerns in kids
She said that spotting vision problems early requires teamwork between parents and educators.
“It’s that bi-directional communication between the school team and parents and guardians of kids that I think is really important,” Collins said. “We know so much about how good vision impacts learning and success in schools.”
Collins stressed that an eye exam before school starts may be one of the most valuable supplies that a parent can invest in.
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