Parents around the world are all fretting about the amount of time their children spend glued to their screens, be it on social media, surfing the net or gaming. The days of children leaving the house early in the morning and just coming home for meals is long gone.
These days, the first thing many of us see before we even have breakfast is a screen of one kind or another. Children and teenagers are likely to want to turn on their computers to play the latest game with their friends immediately after they’ve checked their phones and even before breakfast.
The good thing is, that gaming can have surprising all-round benefits. Research shows that gaming can actually lead to an improvement in children who have dyslexia. The attention required to game means all-round attention improvement and this, in turn, helps improve dyslexic tendencies.
Creativity in children is also heightened through gaming and with today’s being more physical than ever, their overall fitness can also improve.
Some recent studies have also shown that contrary to popular belief, gaming can even improve your eyesight. This said, there has to be a word of caution. Eye health is fundamental to the overall visual function. Follow these guidelines to ensure you look after your eyes and prevent one common side effect of gaming which is called digital eye strain or computer vision syndrome:
Table of Contents
Sleep
It might sound like the easiest thing to do but we all know that a gripping game means that sleep becomes less of a priority than getting to the next level of a game or winning it! The key here is self-discipline. Eye health has to be seen in the overall scheme of wellbeing and is even more important than going to the gym.
If you are a parent, set gaming hours for your children so that they know the rules. As adults, set an alarm so that you know when you must go to bed rather than wake up.
Blink
This might sound rather odd but sometimes we are so fixated on the screen that we forget to blink. Not blinking causes dry eyes, eye irritability, and lead to headaches.
As you’re likely to be engrossed in your game, place reminders around your screen to give yourself unconscious cues to lubricate your eyes with a simple blink. You could even have a sig neon blink sign on the wall which changes colors with LED lights. Have some eye mist to hand too so that you can give your eyes a quick soothing spray when you need to.
Take Breaks
Again, this is easily said than done at times. Every 20-30 minutes, you should consciously look as far into the distance as you can to exercise your eye muscles.
Once every 40 to 60 minutes, do the target gaze exercise to concentrate on an object in the distance for a few minutes to strengthen your ciliary muscles.
Get a High Definition Screen
The quality of your screen can also make a huge difference to the overall impact on your vision. The greater the resolution, the greater the definition so buy wisely.
Go to https://www.thebestintech.com/best-gaming-monitors-under-200-300/ to read the reviews of the best gaming monitors available. Make the most of expert opinion and advice!
Join the Discussion!