How To Help Kids Safely View The Solar Eclipse

OAK LAWN, IL -- Like everyone else, Dr. Katherine Narbone is excited about Monday’s solar eclipse. She’s also concerned about people damaging their eyes, especially kids. And yes, all eyes can be damaged when viewing the eclipse without the protective eyewear. In extreme case you really can go blind staring into an eclipse.

“My biggest concern Monday is that people will try to look at the eclipse without the solar eclipse glasses on, if even for a few seconds, so they end up damaging their eyes,” Dr. Narbone said, an optometrist at Complete Vision Care in Oak Lawn and member of the Illinois Optometric Association. “The population at the greatest risk of damaging their retinas is young children. Kids are so naturally curious so there is some risk of them looking around without the glasses if adults aren’t paying attention.”

Dr. Narbone said she hasn’t had a kid yet that hasn’t taken off depth perception lenses during a vision test and looking around. Kids and adults don't realize how dark the solar eclipse viewing glasses that have the NASA required ISO 12312-2 number are when you first put them on.

Make a pinhole projector out of a cereal box.

“The filters are extremely dark. When you put them on you can’t see the person sitting next to you or a tree. All you really see is the orb of the sun,” Dr. Narbone said. “Kids may not be comfortable walking around with them on or not being able to see mom or dad. That might increase the risk of kids taking off the glasses.”

Since the Chicago area is in a partial solar eclipse zone, Dr. Narbone says there is an increased risk of solar retinopathy, when too much ultraviolet light floods the retina. The condition can permanently damage a person’s vision, especially a young child’s developing eye. There is not a moment in the Chicago area or elsewhere in the partial solar eclipse zone where it is safe to take off the glasses.

“It’s not painful to get solar retinopathy,” Dr. Narbone said. “Essentially the sun burns the macula, which is the center of vision. That’s what causes gray or black spots, which could be permanent. It could take days or weeks before people notice it. It’s like a permanent floater.”

With some schools and libraries planning solar eclipse events, Dr. Narbone cautions teachers, librarians and other adults to keep a close eye on kids when viewing the partial solar eclipse in group settings. Dr. Narbone advises educating kids how to use the filtered glasses before going outside.

“Give them a sense of what the sun is going to look like by having them put the glasses on inside and looking at a lamp,” she said. “Kids should also be taught to look away from the eclipse when taking the glasses off.”

The safest way for an adult of child to watch the eclipse is by indirect viewing.

“I prefer the old school way by looking through a pinhole projector made from a box,” Dr. Narbone said. “You can also cut eyes and a wedge for the nose in a paper plate. Kids hold the plate to their face and it forces them to look through their glasses.”

For really young kids, like pre-school age, Dr. Narbone says there are plenty of ways to make the solar eclipse fun and educational for little kids if parents feel their child is too young to be outside.

“Let them watch it on a computer or TV and take them out for just brief intervals,” she said. “You just don’t want kids staring at the sun on Monday.”