The sun

You’ve already heard how you need light in order to see, but there is a kind of light that can actually be harmful to your eyes. This is called ultraviolet and is sometimes known as UV for short.

There is a cartoon of a two dogs wearing shades and relaxing on deckchairs. The cartoon says, Testing sunglasses for Guide Dogs isn't as stressful as I thought!

There’s often a lot of UV about when it’s really sunny, so in summer you should take extra care. UV can enter your eye through the pupil and damage the retina, at the back of the eye. In some cases, this can lead to you gradually losing your sight when you’re older!

The good thing is that it’s dead easy to look after your eyes. All you need to do is shade your eyes with a hat or cap when you can and wear a pair of sunglasses. Everyone knows that sunglasses - shades - look cool, but now you know that they’re doing you a lot of good too, by protecting your eyes!

One thing that’s really important though, is that your sunglasses must have a little marking on them that says "CE". The CE mark stands for Conformité Européen, meaning a product conforms to the high safety and quality standards set forth by the European Union. This means that they can block out the harmful light - the UV - and you’ll be safe wearing them. If your shades haven’t got the CE mark on them, don’t wear them - they may be dangerous!

Every year, Guide Dogs tries to get as many people as possible to wear their sunglasses on a day we call Shades Day. Over the last few years, millions of people have taken part. Why not ask your teacher if your school can join in and look cool for Guide Dogs?

IN THIS SECTION:
How we see
Looking after your sight
Eye tests
The sun
Computers
Wearing glasses
Eating for your eyes
Quiz
Problems and solutions

How we see | Looking after your sight | Problems & solutions

Jump to top of page

This web site is supported by HealthSure