Eclipse concerns

[SaltineQueen]

The majority of my K-3 kiddos will be on the bus home when the eclipse peaks in our area. We are at about 85% totality. We can tell kids till we're blue in the face to not look at it, but we all know some will try. Principal wants me to come up with something for parents. Has anyone seen good, age appropriate resources? Or have you sent something similar to your families? Or any tips?

[GetBackToClassRN]

I haven't seen anything that I feel is going to make any difference. Our principal is leaving it up to the teachers to "educate" the children on the risk of looking directly at the eclipse. I am really worried as we will be having dismissal during and after the peak time of the eclipse.

I'm selfishly more concerned about the children that are going to be running back into the building screaming because they accidentally looked directly at the sun. What am I supposed to do for them???

I wish our schools were having early dismissal times like a lot of our surrounding counties are doing. Then the responsibility is solely on the parents.

[chasinRT]

I think it's up to the administration to come up with something. It's a tactical thing, not a nurse thing. No way would I want that on me. You can't prevent kids from looking and you know some will.

[offlabel]

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=brian+regan+sun+stare&view=detail&mid=629A31CB55E683DD5A52629A31CB55E683DD5A52&FORM=VIRE

[zombieghoast]

More importantly tell them not to accept any strange plants that day.

[OldDude]

I don't understand how generations before us have saved their vision; especially since no one was there to tell them, "DON'T LOOK AT THE ECLIPSE!"

[bunnehfeet, BSN]

I'm in Georgia and Atlanta metro area schools are actually delaying school release times for this reason (also because this is a cool thing for kids to learn about) and we're very near the path of totality here. And to the "old dude" who assumes that in the old days we didn't learn about this stuff - I remember the last time I saw a total solar eclipse, in 1979 (I'm old too). We were educated at school about the phenomenon (just like kids will be today), and we learned why you shouldn't look at it, and how to make pin hole cameras and other apparatuses to view it safely. I was in kindergarten.

Astronomers have been educating people about eclipses since the 4th Century. It's nothing new under the sun. We also all know instinctively that you shouldn't stare at the sun - ever. But because something COOL is happening with the sun, you're tempted to look more than you normally would. That's why it's a greater risk, and people should be warned - it's a public health issue. I had to explain this to young RNs at my work this week, who assumed that staring at the sun (and the eclipse) being bad for you is "fake news" made by people who want to sell you eclipse glasses. So yeah - we better tell people, because even educated people (with the word science in their college degree) seem not to trust or understand basic science these days.

[OldDude]

Astronomers have been educating people about eclipses since the 4th Century. It's nothing new under the sun.

This statement made me stop and think. So I did some quick googling. I saw a lot of "ancient" astronomers warning of all kinds of evil and bad and scary stuff associated with eclipses but nothing about looking at it would harm your vision; not to say that it isn't there if I dug long and deep enough. I'm wondering, however, if these 4th century warnings were given, how that information was spread to...say Native Americans, or the Masai of Africa, or even the Australian Aboriginal peoples...hmmm.

[ana010]

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[ana010]

Why would they be outdoors during that time?

[WineRN]

I'm having eclipse anxiety too.

We are in the path of totality and we are having a big science themed day around it where the kids all will get glasses and go out three different times to see it in all of its stages.

400+... k-5 kids... all outside at the same time.

Now supposedly we have a "large amount" of adult volunteers, but I already had the talk with my administrators that Nurse Wine cannot fix eye pain caused by staring into the sun. (Which of course SHOCKED them) . I have a strong feeling that I will be the person in charge of calling parents if their little ones develop symptoms of eye pain.

[OldDude]

I'd be more worried about letting the kids watch the eclipse with the "magic" glasses than letting them make the cardboard viewers and instructing them to keep their back to the sun.