Give your child bright eyes
White Sword Peak
August 24, 2018 08:36 Source: People's Daily
I hope that more children say goodbye to "house life" and return to nature, or look far away, or look up at the stars, bathed in sunshine, rain and dew, and do not let their eyesight "lose at the starting line".
Recently, the Ministry of Education and the National Health Commission jointly drafted the Implementation Plan for Comprehensive Prevention and Control of Myopia in children and Adolescents, and publicly solicited opinions from the public. The "plan" requires that the prevention and control of myopia in children and adolescents, the overall myopia rate and physical health status be included in the government performance assessment indicators, and it is strictly prohibited to assess education administrative departments and schools solely on the basis of student exam results and school enrollment rates. Local governments and schools that have seen the physical health of children and adolescents decline for three consecutive years will be held accountable in accordance with laws and regulations. The move has aroused widespread concern in society.
It is estimated that 600 million people in China suffer from myopia. Among them, the myopia rate of children and adolescents is high and rising, and the myopia is younger and more serious. Why are 'tiny glasses' on the rise? The root cause lies in some deviations between school and family education. First, primary and secondary school students are overburdened in and out of class. Although quality education has been carried out for many years, student achievement and enrollment rate are still "hard indicators", and children are overwhelmed and their time for extracurricular activities is severely squeezed. In order to improve academic performance, many schools assign a lot of homework every day, which increases the burden on children's eyes. At the same time, in order to "not let their children lose at the starting line", parents force their children to participate in various tutoring classes and interest classes, so that their eyes are in a long-term state of fatigue. The second is the excessive use of electronic products. In many schools, teachers no longer use the blackboard to teach, but instead use electronic devices such as tablets and projectors, and even homework is assigned and corrected on the computer. At the same time, many children are addicted to electronic products, and excessive eye use is prominent. Third, there is a serious shortage of outdoor activities. Many children like to "stay" at home, developed a sedentary lifestyle, closer and closer to the mobile phone, farther and farther from nature.
To reduce the myopia rate of students, we must first improve the "farsightedness rate" of education and change the wrong orientation of "only score theory". It is necessary to incorporate vision health into quality education, truly return after-school time to children, and let children love nature, walk into nature, and embrace nature. For example, schools should reduce students' academic load and ensure that primary and secondary school students have enough time for outdoor activities every day. Parents should also cooperate with the school to effectively reduce the burden on their children, and choose extracurricular training reasonably according to the interests of their children to avoid the phenomenon of reducing the burden of the school and increasing the burden of the family. At the same time, strictly control the use of electronic products, avoid children's excessive use of electronic products for learning and entertainment, limit the duration of electronic products to carry out teaching, and prevent students from continuously tired eyes.
The prevention and control of myopia in children and adolescents is a systematic project, which needs comprehensive treatment and multi-pronged approach. Health departments should adhere to prevention first, move forward, let parents understand the knowledge of scientific eye care, and help children develop good eye habits. At the same time, the basic public health service requirements of the state are implemented, and children are provided with eye health care and vision examinations, so as to achieve early detection and intervention. On the basis of examination, the electronic archives of children's and adolescents' visual health should be established and updated in time. Carry out vision screening for primary and secondary school students, and issue sports prescriptions and health care prescriptions for students with abnormal vision. Education departments should encourage medical colleges to set up related majors such as optometry, and speed up the training of myopia prevention and treatment and vision health management talents. Radio, television and other media should be strictly controlled and prohibited from broadcasting advertisements of myopia prevention and control products without scientific basis, so as not to mislead the public.
In the final analysis, children have to act on their own to protect their eyesight, and increasing outdoor activities is the most simple and feasible way. In recent years, more and more medical studies have confirmed that outdoor activities play an important role in preventing myopia. The rate of myopia among teenagers is rising rapidly, mainly due to the serious lack of time for outdoor activities. Medical experts point out that when doing outdoor activities, looking at the green and looking into the distance is the best way to relax your eyes. In fact, what you do outdoors is not important, the important thing is to expose your body and eyes to natural light. Whether it is sports or play, if you have enough time for outdoor activities, you can effectively reduce the incidence of myopia.
Myopia in children and adolescents is a major public health problem, which is related to the future of the country and the nation. Giving children a pair of bright eyes is the common expectation of the whole society. "There are flowers in spring and the moon in autumn, cool winds in summer and snow in winter." This world is not only the books in front of you, but also poetry and distance. I hope that more children say goodbye to "house life" and return to nature, or look far away, or look up at the stars, bathed in sunshine, rain and dew, and do not let their eyesight "lose at the starting line".
Reprinted by People's Daily (page 18, August 24, 2018)