Perhaps one of the worst parenting habits to come out of the 21st-Century is letting smartphones and tablets turn into nannies for your own children. We see it happen often to many families nowadays, with children no more than seven-years-old already addicted to whatever happens on screen on their mobile devices while their parents worry about adult-stuff.
But what parents forget is the consequences of letting your kids play on screen for extended periods of time, as this story from Sin Chew Daily goes to show.
At only five-years-old, the young boy from Dongguan, China had complained about suffering from eyesight difficulties, often seen frowning or squinting his eyes just so he can see a little better. Behaviour like that is sure to raise alarm in most parents, so they took him to an optometrist for testing.
At the optometrist, it is revealed that the young boy is suffering from near-sightedness, with an eye power of close to 1,000!
Source: Newsweek
Through initial testing, the optometrist found out that the young boy’s right eye had 975 degrees of myopia and 225 degrees of astigmatism, while his left eye had 750 degrees of myopia and 300 degrees of astigmatism.
Source: Sin Chew Daily
What is perhaps most distressing is the fact that through a fundus examination (which is used to examine the retina, optic disc, macula, fovea, and posterior pole), it is reported that abnormalities to his fundus will cause further serious complications to his vision, and that he would have to have his eyesight reviewed every three months.
Source: Getty Images
So why the high power? Well, as it turns out that the young boy’s parents had bought him a tablet to use at only three-years-old, to encourage his learning. From that point onwards, he would use the tablet for up to six hours a day! As such, his vision was compromised and unfortunately, near-sightedness, or myopia, is irreversible at such a young age and will only worsen as the boy grows older.
So let this be a lesson to all of you parents out there to stop having your tablets or phones turn into stand-in nannies for your children! You never know how badly this may affect their vision in the long run!
Also read: 3yo Girl Is Now Short-Sighted As She Was Always Watching Cartoons On Mobile Phone
