By LISA SHIN, O.D.
Los Alamos
Dear Friends:
With the news of Los Alamos Public Schools planning for a hybrid model and remote learning this coming fall, as a mom, I am very concerned about the well being of our kids!
While some families, such as homeschoolers, are well-positioned and equipped for this change, others are simply not. Without proper supervision, parental involvement, and social interaction, some will fall behind.
What about single, working parents who cannot afford to work part-time? What happens to small business owners who have school age children and cannot afford paid family leave for their employees?
I often hear from stressed out parents who are exhausted and anxious about the future.
Laura Ingraham said it well: “And anyone who has or has had children knows there’s no substitute for in-person learning from teachers in an actual school with peers and extracurricular activities. They need to know that their sons and daughters will be heading back to school Monday through Friday.” [Because] “the vast majority of Americans don’t have the luxury to quit their jobs or the skill and patience required to teach their kids at home, let alone multiple children in different grades.”
As an optometrist, I tell kids all the time to limit their digital device use to 2 hours/day, but now, they will be required to spend 6-8 hours/day on their computers! This can disrupt sleep and cause eyestrain, dry eyes, blurry vision, and long-term damage to the retina.
Here are my strong recommendations:
- Reduce the display brightness on the computer monitor and digital tablets. Consider a blue light filter to use on your screen. Turn on the Blue Shade setting on your Kindle and the Night Shift setting on your Iphone.
- Kids need 5 hours/week of outdoor play!
- Instead of reading on Kindles and tablets, go back to old school: paper books!
- Blue light protection on your child’s eyeglasses are a must. We offer Blutech lenses, Prevencia, Zeiss Duravision Blueprotect UV, and Kodak Total Blue.
- Non-prescription blue light filtering glasses are available on Amazon. I highly recommend yellow tinted lenses for maximum protection.
Adults need blue light protection, too! We have an excellent selection and competitive pricing for the LANL safety and computer glasses program. We also provide eyewear for several LANL subcontractors and Los Alamos County.
I have been asked if my office is part of the Mari Mac Village Shopping Center that is under contract for redevelopment. Thankfully, I own my space and currently do not have plans to sell or move.
We are now open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Call 505.662.9681, but text and email are much better ways to reach us: text 833-520-0669, email lshinrecall@gmail.com .We strictly enforce mandatory masks, temperature readings and hand washing.
Thanks for your understanding, patience and support!
