August is National Children’s Eye Health and Safety Awareness Month which promotes parents or guardians to schedule their children an exam. 

Dallas County Health Department Navigation Coordinator Ann Cochran says with students heading back to school soon, eye health is a crucial part for them being able to learn at a high level. Cochran says that students without quality eyesight will not be able to understand learning material and often become frustrated. 

“ A lot of what they do is visual. If your child cannot see well, they’re not going to be able to pick up on a lot of things. And it may be very frustrating for them because they’re not going to be able to realize, oh, the reason I don’t understand what the teacher is talking about is because I can’t see well enough and I don’t see what the teacher’s showing me. So it’s really important for children to have regular eye exams.”

Cochran stresses that parents or guardians should ask their physician to do a vision screening during their child’s school physical.