Each year, thousands of children have eye accidents at home, at play or in the car. These eye injuries can damage a child's sight and even cause blindness.

Many common causes of eye injuries to children involve ordinary objects and situations:

• Misuse of toys;
• Falls from beds, against furniture or on stairs;
• Misuse of everyday tools and objects (work and garden tools, knives and forks, pens and pencils).

Be sure to provide adequate supervision, find and remove potential hazards to their vision, and model good eye safety practices in your own work and play around the home.

Protecting Your Children’s Sight

Many eye injuries can be avoided by simple common sense and awareness of the risks posed by many ordinary activities at home and in school.

• Recognize that even common household items such as paper clips, bungee cords, wire coat hangers, rubber bands and fishhooks can cause serious eye injury.
• Insist that protective eyewear be worn when participating in sports or other hazardous activities, such as mowing the lawn. Baseball is the number one cause of sports-related injuries among children ages five to 14.
  >> Learn more about sports eye safety 
• Provide adequate supervision and instruction when your children handle potentially dangerous items, such as pencils, scissors, forks and penknives.
• Only purchase age-appropriate toys.
• Avoid projectile toys such as darts, bows and arrows, and missile-firing toys.
• Look for toys marked with "ASTM", which means the product meets the national safety standards set by the American Society for Testing and Materials.
• Do not allow your children to play with non-powder rifles, pellet guns or BB guns. They are extremely dangerous and have been reclassified as firearms and removed from toy departments.
• Keep all chemicals and sprays, such as sink cleaners or oven cleaners, out of reach of small children.
• Do not allow children anywhere near fireworks, especially bottle rockets. These fireworks pose a serious risk of eye injury and have been banned in several states.

Above all, never forget the power of a good example! Teach your children to be EyeSmart by safeguarding your own sight with ANSI-approved protective eyewear worn during potentially dangerous yard work and household repairs or projects.

Finding and Removing Hazards

At Home: Use safety gates at top and bottom of stairs. Pad or cushion sharp corners. Put locks on all cabinets and drawers that kids can reach. Keep all sharp or pointed objects out of kid's hands. Put away all hazardous chemicals, including cleaning solutions. Keep your child out of work areas.

At Play: Read all warnings and instructions on toys. Avoid toys with sharp edges or hard points, spikes and rods. Don't buy toys that fly or shoot or are not age-appropriate. (Get more tips on buying safe toys from the American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus.) Be aware of items in playgrounds and play areas that are hazards. Make sure your child wears proper eye protection when playing sports.

On the Road: Make sure children are properly secured in baby carriers and child safety seats and that the seat and shoulder belts fit well. Children age 12 and younger should never ride in the front seat. Store loose items in the trunk or secured on the floor. Any loose object can become a dangerous projectile in a crash.

If an eye injury occurs:
See an ophthalmologist or go to the emergency room immediately, even if the eye injury appears minor. Delaying medical attention can result in permanent vision loss or blindness.

>> Find a pediatric ophthalmologist (via the American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus)

>> Learn how to recognize an eye injury