I've had several teachers send kids up for vision screens, saying the student has been squinting and having trouble reading.
UMMM....
Could it possibly be because NONE of the classrooms in my school keep their lights on?!?
They say it's to help calm the students. Even in the cafeteria.
I'm sorry but maybe your kid is squinting because the only source of light they have to read by is the small amount coming through the window. Not even a lamp in a lot of the rooms.
I was always taught (by my Momma, not nursing school) that reading in the dark is bad on your eyes.
Between the no lights and the making "bad" kids sit out or walk laps instead of having recess... I may lose it this year.
This drives me absolutely crazy!! Let them run off their energy for heaven's sake. Or the poor kids who struggle to get their work done, can't get it finished in time, so they spend recess doing classwork. Way to make them hate school. Since I'm at a junior high now, I don't have that frustration anymore.
Sounds to me like the district doesn't want to pay the electric bill and hit on this brilliant "it'll calm the kids" strategy to explain their decision. WHile I've never heard of such a thing, I wonder though..does it actually help calm the kids or help them focus? Or is it a line of BS to cover a cost saving measure?
I keep the lights dim on one side of my office. I have light above me but it's darker on the side where the cots are for kids to lay down. Of course I turn them on when I need to assess an injury.
Not a school nurse (these threads keep popping up on the sidebar in General discussions)... My kids' school uses Smart Boards -- Smart Boards | Are you sure which smart board is right for you? (if you haven't seen them...that was the first link that popped up on Google)
I'd have to ask if they routinely dim the lights, but I'm pretty sure they do at least dim the lights in front of the classroom so the kids are better able to see the Smart Board. Last year my daughter got a concussion at volleyball practice, and she was very photophobic for a while...I remember her going to lie down in the nurse's office because she couldn't take the light from the dumb Smart Board.
But yeah, if the lights are dim the eyes are going to see less contrast between the black and white on their book/paper.
Also, again at my kids' school at least the older ones heavily use iPads. They're even getting away from textbooks because the content is stored on the iPads. I wonder how much that contributes to eye strain? Something to think about.
Sounds to me like the district doesn't want to pay the electric bill and hit on this brilliant "it'll calm the kids" strategy to explain their decision. WHile I've never heard of such a thing, I wonder though..does it actually help calm the kids or help them focus? Or is it a line of BS to cover a cost saving measure?
The funny this is: No other school (that I've been to) in the district does this??
I just want to know if it is truly bad for your eyes, that way I can have science on my side when I run through flipping lights on screaming "LET THERE BE LIGHT, MWAHAHAHA!!"
Ha! My daughter's math teacher does essential oils and keeps the lights off. And when the kids get loud he doesn't tell them to be quiet. Instead he puts his hands in the shape of a triangle in front of him and meditates.
This drives my 12 year-old Type A kid bananas. She's like, "hey you crazy hippie, make some rules in here!"
Ha! My daughter's math teacher does essential oils and keeps the lights off. And when the kids get loud he doesn't tell them to be quiet. Instead he puts his hands in the shape of a triangle in front of him and meditates.
This drives my 12 year-old Type A kid bananas. She's like, "hey you crazy hippie, make some rules in here!"
Well, when I teach health I've stopping yelling as well. My throat was hurting. So I sit down, raise my hand up, and wait patiently. You would be surprised how quickly the HS kids settle down!
I do establish on day one that this gesture does mean I need side conversations to cease. I never actually thought it might work. I just was tired of yelling :).
(Though the essential oils...I have a line. A firm line.)
Ha! My daughter's math teacher does essential oils and keeps the lights off. And when the kids get loud he doesn't tell them to be quiet. Instead he puts his hands in the shape of a triangle in front of him and meditates.
This drives my 12 year-old Type A kid bananas. She's like, "hey you crazy hippie, make some rules in here!"
One year, with a particularly unruly class of 5th graders, our music teacher had a staged melt down. He began by asking them to listen and sit, he progressed to holding up our school's quiet sign, he then began humming, at which time(again this was all totally planned) another teacher came in a hurried the kids out because "When he gets like this, you never know what he could do" the class sat in the hallway stunned and quiet until he allowed them back in the room. From that day on all he ever had to do was hum! Also, he has a diffuser, has the kids meditate when they can't calm down, and plays a reed flute, so he's a bit of a hippie too!
Ha! My daughter's math teacher does essential oils and keeps the lights off. And when the kids get loud he doesn't tell them to be quiet. Instead he puts his hands in the shape of a triangle in front of him and meditates.
This drives my 12 year-old Type A kid bananas. She's like, "hey you crazy hippie, make some rules in here!"
I LOVE your daughter, 'cause that was my exact reaction.
OyWithThePoodles, RN
1,338 Posts