Editor's
Letter
Johnny Can't...
On the heels of New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg's commitment to end social promotions of students, two editorials in New York's Daily News have challenged City Hall to also help make sure the city's kids can see clearly.
The second editorial followed a "confession" by the Health Department that "up to 80 percent of kindergartners and first-graders who flunk vision screenings never see an eye doctor."
And this doesn't even address the question of how well vision screenings catch disorders in the first place. To that end, a recent Vision in Preschoolers study, funded by the National Institutes of Health, found that even the best vision screening detects only two out of three children with vision problems.
The fact is that New York is probably no worse than cities near you. So, what can you do to help your state's youngest eyes see better? First, educate families about the importance of vision care by supporting the Vision Council of America's program Check Yearly. See Clearly. Log onto www.checkyearly.com to learn how you can order and use a variety of patient-directed materials available from VCA.
Second, ask your Congressional Representative to support HR 2173 (The Children's Vision Improvement and Learning Readiness Act), which was introduced into Congress last May to provide up to $75 million a year to states to increase the number of children who voluntarily receive eye exams. For information, go to www.hr2173.com.
So, the next time you read about low test scores in your community, don't just sit back and blame "the system." Instead, get involved and act on the fact that for some of those students, an underlying problem involves something you can help correct. Vision.
Sincerely,
Stephanie K. De Long
Editor-in-Chief
P.S. Speaking of vision problems, be sure to read our annual Focus on Low Vision supplement that follows page 24.