How A Child Can ‘See’ Your Thoughts ‘Through The Looking Glass’

I was guiding my 4-year-old students to class when two ladies (who in all probability were either teachers or mothers themselves) made a passing comment at one of my students, “Oh ho! Look at her;kids at this young age are getting spectacles! Where is this generation headed?”

My heart sank and I instantly looked at my ‘little miss giggles’, wondering how would she feel, had she heard that comment. Thankfully, she was busy chatting with her friends and that nasty comment didn’t reach her ears!

One may not be aware but a random and an absolutely unnecessary comment like that can cause a permanent scar on an innocent heart at a very tender age.

Stop Shaming 

As a teacher, I often get calls from parents, requesting me to counsel their child who is refusing to wear spectacles anywhere except the classroom. The incident I stated above has reinforced my belief that to a large extent ‘society’ is to be blamed for this. 

For all you know, that child may already be feeling quite conscious, as he/she has to wear spectacles. Probably it would have taken a lot of counseling and homework from the parents after which the child would have been ready to wear glasses. An unwarranted comment like that may just wash it all away!

Parents and caregivers, at times, unknowingly create a mental block in their child’s mind around spectacles. To deter the child from screen time, they use phrases like, “Do you want thick glasses like Rahul?” “See how funny Ria looks in her glasses”

Has one ever thought how a 5-year-old would decode these so-called ‘threats’ from their caregivers? Imagine his/her plight, if he, himself, actually gets detected with some vision problems later!

In fact, if a child has vision problems, it’s not always due to screen time. A leading ophthalmologist in the city told me that vision problems in kids could be attributed to numerous reasons including poor eating habits, contamination of food, developmental issues in preterm babies, and heredity too! Therefore regular screening of eyes in kids is strongly recommended for parents to detect any vision problem at an early age.

So all you wonderful people out there, here’s an earnest request coming from a parent, a teacher and a sensitive adult – ‘Don’t be judgmental and please stop shaming young kids!’ 

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