Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/how-eye-charts-are--failing-our-children--and-how-we-can-help/5023718/
In every school nurse’s office in the United States there is a big chart on the wall (a Snellen chart) with letters or pictures on it. In the fall, every first grader in the country stands 20 feet away from one of these charts, toes positioned on a strip of tape on the floor.
“Now cover your right eye with your hand,” says the nurse, “no, your right eye. The other one,” she corrects him quickly. She has a lot of kids to screen today. “Now tell me the letters on this row,” she says, standing next to the chart and pointing to the top row.
The child reads the letters (or pictures) for the top row and for a couple of other rows until he falters and reads the letters incorrectly.
“Now cover the other eye,” the nurse says, and he repeats the process.
Later, after she has checked all the children, the nurse will report to the teacher that there are three who don’t see 20/20 and she will let the parents know. The teacher is happy to know that almost all of her children have 20/20, or perfect, vision in each eye.
In fact, 25 percent of them probably don’t, and those children ...