The Problem with Children: They’re broke, unemployed and can’t vote.

Monday, November 7, 2011 by Thomas Rogers

The Children’s Eye Foundation advocates for children’s vision health for a number of reasons, including:

• Productive children lead to productive communities – The healthier a child, the more productive he or she will be. Children who lose their sight to preventable blindness also lose about $140,000 in lifetime productivity, according to a white paper written by the president of the Children’s Eye Foundation, Dr. William Gibson, Ph.D. If we can help to detect and treat these problems, we can help communities be more productive.

• Children’s health issues aren’t always a priority – In the political landscape, children’s health issues are often addressed last and the first to be cut when budgets are tight. We think this might be because children are: broke (and can’t donate money), unemployed and can’t vote.

Advocating for children’s vision health isn’t an abstract or complicated concept. To be an advocate, you can:

• Talk with your friends and family about the importance of early detection and treatment of eye disorders
• Keep an eye out for signs of a vision disorder
• Sign up to be a little ambassador and we’ll help you tell your story

Please feel free to share any other ideas you may have about advocating for children’s vision health.

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