Nowadays, we wake up to our mobile phone screens. At work, we check our notifications frequently and spend at least eight hours in front of a computer. Back home in the evening, it is time for watching television. With the Covid-19 pandemic, even socialising and classes have shifted to the digital space. Whether it is for educational purposes, or for entertainment or for work, we now have a full-fledged digital lifestyle. Undoubtedly, there has been an unprecedented jump for the screen time that we have all been engaged in ever since the pandemic has broken out. Many students are now depended on the digital contents available online for their academic success. Some of these digital classes continue for hours.
Learning online has lots of advantages. But do we realise that the increased adoption of such classes has a cost in terms of our eye health? As we spend more time on digital screens, our eyes have an excessively increased exposure time to these screens, which can lead us to adverse consequences. These could be in the form of eye strain, headaches, blurred vision or double vision, dry eyes or even neck and shoulder pain. Sometimes, it can even lead to disturbance in sleep patterns and difficulties in concentration. Also known as Digital Eye Strain, Computer Vision Syndrome is a collection of eye and vision disorders caused by electronic gadgets.
In Bangladesh, many secondary and tertiary students have a high prevalence of computer vision syndrome. According to a recent study, some 68.16 per cent of research participants, who are mainly university students, have been found to suffer from headache, decreasing vision and eye discomfort. So, we should emphasise on raising awareness about CVS particularly among our young students.
Simanta Roy,
simantaroy23@gmail.com