Jessica G. is a member of VSP's Corporate Public Relations team.

I was seven. Holding the book inches from the end of my nose, I was reading the newest Encyclopedia Brown. My parents witnessed my peculiar reading posture, and took me to an optometrist, where we found it was time for vision correction. All through elementary school, I wore glasses (bad ones), and survived the kind of taunts you would expect: “four eyes,” “nerd,” “dork.”

Jessica G. in the 4th Grade.

Then I reached high school. As a textbook sullen teen, I decided that I was “soooo over” glasses and begged my parents for contact lenses. They weren’t sure I was ready to take the leap and wanted me to wait a couple more years before graduating to contacts. In a self-defeating act of defiance, I just stopped wearing my glasses. No glasses meant no blackboard in class, which meant that my attention span dropped as my grades followed suit. I began having headaches and eye strain from constantly squinting. But, hey, I thought I looked good.

So when a recently-released joint study by VSP and Prevent Blindness America showed that one in five teenagers have difficulty seeing in class, I believed it. Kids who can’t see what’s on the blackboard in class are at a serious disadvantage, and may be perceived to have learning disabilities or other behavioral problems, when it’s simply an issue of correcting their vision. These kids also often suffer from headaches and other symptoms of vision impairment.

Sight for Students Eyewear

I eventually saw the light, and found a pair of glasses that actually suited me. With the range of great frames out there, this was a lot easier than it was when I was seven. Being able to absorb all aspects of class, both visually and aurally, made me a better student, and my grades recovered.

Increasing numbers of states are beginning to require an optometrist’s exam prior to entering public school, so hopefully the numbers released in the study will be on the upswing, with more kids getting eyecare and eyewear before hitting the classroom. With all of the challenges children encounter during their school years, removing the barrier of vision impairments can give them the extra edge they need to be successful.