Our testing has determined that your child ______________________________has become nearsighted (myopic) or may be approaching that condition. Myopia is a very common condition that affects nearly half of all children in this country and is characterized by an abnormal elongation of the eye. Because of this, myopia is a leading cause of blindness, since this elongation often leads to retinal detachment or macular degeneration. There is no controversy about this. There is also no controversy about the alarming way myopia has been increasing at epidemic rates. The prevalence of myopia in the USA has increased from 30% to 40% in recent years. In some Asian countries, 90% of schoolchildren are now nearsighted. Many articles are now appearing even in the mass media about this growing problem.

However, there IS a controversy over why we become nearsighted. There are two opposing theories:

THEORY ONE: Nearly all eye doctors claim that myopia is inherited, like a defective gene, and there is nothing to do about it but to wear glasses. They further state that the way we use our eyes has nothing to do with it. They routinely prescribe and sell concave "minus power" or "distance" glasses which bring the world up within the region of clear vision. They claim that using such glasses for close work does not increase the myopia, but they have no explanation for why myopia continues to increase even after the body has stopped growing. It should be obvious that treating myopia is a tremendous source of revenue for the optical industry.

THEORY TWO: On the other hand, Many independent researchers and consumer advocates, plus a few eye doctors around the world, provide evidence that myopia is a natural result of using our eyes in a way that they were never designed for. They claim that this view is supported by a mass of research over many decades. They note that our primate cousins, like chimpanzees and gorillas, have eyes just like ours but do not become myopic. The reason is that they do not learn to read or spend hours daily looking at close objects like computers and smart phones. They claim that minus lenses increase the elongation of the eye (especially if used for close work as well as for distance) and that the way to prevent myopia is to use convex "plus power" lenses for all close work. These are the same kind of glasses you will find in any drug store, intended for older people when they develop presbyopia (loss of focusing ability with age.)

This is such an important decision that your school should not be influencing your course of action. You need to investigate these theories and make your own decision as a parent.

Online information by those who support THEORY ONE can be found on websites by:

Prevent Blindness America, American Academy Of Ophthalmology, New England Ophthalmological Society, National Eye Institute and many others. Similar information can be found on the websites of virtually every eye doctor in the world.

Online information by those who support THEORY TWO can be found on websites by the advisory board of the International Myopia Prevention Assn:

www.preventmyopia.org (Donald Rehm, B.Sc. - researcher and consumer advocate)
www.i-see.org (Alex Eulenberg, B.Sc., M.Sc. - researcher and consumer advocate)
www.kaisuviikari.com/wordpress (Kaisu Viikari, M.D. - Finnish ophthalmologist)
www.chinamyopia.org (Steve Leung, O.D. - Hong Kong optometrist)
https://myopiafree.wordpress.com or http://myopiafree.i-see.org (Otis Brown, B.Sc. - researcher and consumer advocate)
http://members.optusnet.com.au/~brumermaurice (Maurice Brumer, OD - Australian optometrist)
http://www.nb.net/~sparrow/controlmyopia.html (Merrill Bowan, O.D. - Pittsburgh optometrist)
http://drjaniuk.com (Donald Janiuk, O.D. - Poway, CA optometrist)
http://frauenfeldclinic.com (Alex Frauenfeld, M.D. - Austrian ophthalmologist)