The Puzzling Rise in Nearsighted Children • Hacker News Board

Re: The Puzzling Rise in Nearsighted Children

#41

Post by sanoli » Tue, Apr 21, 2015, 4:11 PM UTC

leoc wrote: post #16

swamp40 wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are multiple startup ideas in that article.

Yes. Trying to fix myopia by getting children exposed to more sunlight is a bit of a "let them eat single-source organic asparagus" response: it makes would-be social reformers feel good, but it's not a realistic way to reliably give all children the (apparently) minimum three daily hours of 10,000 lux. Getting all children outside for three hours every day is not realistically possible, and wouldn't be pleasant or e…

Elementary schools could have less classroom time and more outside time. Some countries that don't start serious schooling (classroom time, homeword, teaching pre-defined curricula, etc) until ages 7 or 8, do just fine on those standardized tests that compare students around the world. Of course, geography plays a HUGE part in this, but even then, more time outside would still be better.

Re: The Puzzling Rise in Nearsighted Children

#42

Post by sanoli » Tue, Apr 21, 2015, 4:13 PM UTC

TeMPOraL wrote: post #24

analog31 wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Coding is playing. Just kidding, of course. One thing I've noticed is that my kids have vastly more homework than I ever had, and homework now starts in kindergarten. There are only so many waking hours in the day.

I had a lot of homework as well but at some point I pretty much decided "fuck that, I have better things to do" and learned programming instead. My math grades went down a bit but I actually learned something .

I did the same, and just started skipping classes and going to the library instead. It made getting a job harder, but I don't regret it one bit.

Re: The Puzzling Rise in Nearsighted Children

#43

Post by thaumasiotes » Tue, Apr 21, 2015, 5:00 PM UTC

rrss1122 wrote: post #34

leoc wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes. Trying to fix myopia by getting children exposed to more sunlight is a bit of a "let them eat single-source organic asparagus" response: it makes would-be social reformers feel good, but it's not a realistic way to reliably give all children the (apparently) minimum three daily hours of 10,000 lux. Getting all children outside for three hours every day is not realistically possible, and wouldn't be pleasant or e…

All the reasons you gave for why it's not possible are situational. It is possible for kids to get three hours of sunlight, either at school or at home by playing outside. (By the way, who refers to a minor child as "it" anyway?)

> (By the way, who refers to a minor child as "it" anyway?)

People from the 19th century. I reread E. Nesbit's 5 Children and It a few years ago, and was quite surprised to notice that the 5th child, a baby known to be male, is invariably referred to by the other characters and the narrator with the pronoun "it" (no relation to the It of the title, which is a magical creature).

When I read that book for the first time, either it had been modernized or (more likely) I was in more of a young-child grammar-absorbing mode than a grammar-checking mode.

Re: The Puzzling Rise in Nearsighted Children

#44

Post by thaumasiotes » Tue, Apr 21, 2015, 5:01 PM UTC

bryanlarsen wrote: post #6

sukilot wrote: post #2

Kids spening too much time on phones, like Chinese got nearsighted spending too much time doing schoolwork.

Use your phone or do your schoolwork outside and your eyes will be fine.

Eh, that's not necessarily true. I've tried reading books outside and spent all my time squinting because the glare of the sun on the paper was so bright.

It's why I love the grey screen of the original Kindle so much. Want to read it outside? You can do that without going blind!

For my phone, though, I can barely see the image on screen if I'm holding it in sunlight. When I've used laptops outside they've had the same problem. LCD screens kind of need to be used in the dark.

Re: The Puzzling Rise in Nearsighted Children

#45

Post by thaumasiotes » Tue, Apr 21, 2015, 5:05 PM UTC

qq66 wrote: post #20

leoc wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes. Trying to fix myopia by getting children exposed to more sunlight is a bit of a "let them eat single-source organic asparagus" response: it makes would-be social reformers feel good, but it's not a realistic way to reliably give all children the (apparently) minimum three daily hours of 10,000 lux. Getting all children outside for three hours every day is not realistically possible, and wouldn't be pleasant or e…

Natural sunlight is the most abundant resource humanity has. If we can't get our kids three hours of it per day, there's something that needs to be fixed with how we treat them.

You talk as though the kids want three hours of sunlight a day. Why oppress them more than they already are?

I wear glasses. They're painless. Better that than being forced to spend all my time outside.