Groups promote digital device guidelines for Maryland classrooms

Various vision and health advocates are encouraging Maryland lawmakers to regulate classroom screen safety in the same way that the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration protects office workers, according to a press release following a Screens and Kids press conference.

Cindy Eckard, a mother of two Maryland public school children has been urging lawmakers to regulate screen use and has created a blog citing the health risks children face when required to use a digital device every day in school.

“Of course I want my children to master technology; I just don’t want them to be injured by it,” Eckard said in the release. “Eye experts are worried that children are actually going to be blinded by these devices, and so am I.”

Delegate Steve Arentz (R-Dist. 36) is sponsoring the effort, according to the release. “Maryland students need to get the most out of technology, so we want medical professionals to lead us in a safe direction. It’s a win for education and a win for our children’s long-term health. Let’s get uniform screen safety regulations put in place by doctors who know what’s best for growing children,” he said.

Eckard identified five major health risks that she said the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene needs to address: myopia, retinal damage, musculoskeletal aches and pains, sleeplessness and psychological damage.

Health advocates such as Prevent Blindness and the National Center for Children’s Vision and Eye Health are watching the legislation, as well as comedian, author, actress and activist, Paula Poundstone, who spoke at the press conference.

“It makes all of the sense in the world to put decisions about health of our children’s brains into the hands of health professionals. We don’t ask the schools to govern how many immunizations we give them,” Poundstone said.

The Children’s Environmental Health and Protection Advisory Council sent a letter of support for a similar bill last year, according to the release.

“Over 200 peer-reviewed clinical studies correlate excessive screen usage with disorders such as ADHD, addiction, anxiety, depression, increased aggression, mood dysregulation and even psychosis,” according to a statement from Nicholas Kardaras, PhD, LCSW-R, a nationally recognized addiction expert and author of Glow Kids: How Screen Addiction is Hijacking Our Kids.

“All of our eyes are under stress more than ever before. Whether it is blurry vision, tired eyes, headaches, increased nearsightedness, double vision or red eyes, we know that our world full of digital devices can have lots of unintended consequences,” Geoffrey Goodfellow, OD, FAAO, associate professor at the Illinois College of Optometry and practitioner in the pediatrics/binocular vision services of the Illinois Eye Institute, said in the release.

For further information follow @screensandkids on Twitter, and visit www.screensandkids.us for detailed medical research.