to think DD shoudld be able to wear glasses for sports?

[theaandrea]

DD is 8. She love sports and we play tennis & badminton togethr. However, she started a new school recently and has been told she must take off her glasses forr sports. DD is vv short signthed amd has been wearing glasses since 5yrs old. She cannot see enough to play sports withiut them and is too young for contact lenses.

Dd's PE teacher insists she cannot wear glasses to PE class but also that she must not be excused from class. I try suggesting DD and me play sport together instead of PE class but PE class is required for the curriculum.

I want to talk with head teacher about DD being able to wear glasses because she really can't see enough to hit the ball etc without them and is getting very frustrated in PE lessons, making her lose her interest in sport. I think its ridiculous a teacher can ban a child from using something as essential as glasses!

AIBU?

I've played football in glasses for years. It has never been a problem once I've explained that the lenses are plastic, and shown they have no really sharp edges. Check with your optician that the lenses are plastic (they will be). Next time you buy frames I'd recommend looking at spring loaded ones - the arms are on springs so can bend backwards and are therefore less likely to break off when hit by a ball.

Insane. Glasses are designed not to shatter on impact. A couple of girls in my netball league wear them to play.. Allowed even though all jewellery must be removed.

My 7 year old is very sporty but short sighted and can manage football without glasses at the moment. However if he is like his elder sisters he will end up with a prescription of -6 or so. No way could he do anything without his glasse on.
You need to emphasise to the teacher that it is very dangerous for your daughter to be without her glasses. She could so easily injure herself, it is a ridiculous rule.

Heavens, I would fall over my own feet just leaving a room without my glasses/lenses! Definitely have a word, they can't do that to her. It's like asking her to write an essay with her hands tied behind her back!

Ridiculous,
You simply can't judge distances, it's absolutely impossible to play tennis/badminton without your glasses on.

I've tried when one of my friends lost a contact lens and we decided to make it fairer. It was a very funny, but totally unproductive PE lesson.

I've worn glasses since I was 10 and have done everything in them including white water canoeing!

YANBU, OP. She should needs to be able to wear her glasses or have an alternate assignment.

I'm very nearsighted and have bad astigmatism in both eyes. My glasses broke once (I sat on them) and I was excused from PE until the replacement pair came in.

I managed to get hit with various types of balls whilst wearing my glasses, and my lenses never broke.

I would imagine its so she doesn't get hit in the face and break the glasses or bruise her face.

I reckon if you make it clear to the HT that you won't make a big song and dance and complain if that does happen then I can't see what the problem would be.

ridiculous, I have worn glasses since I was young and never had any issue doing PE in them. Although by the time I was 13 and hating PE I would have quite liked that to have been a reason I couldn't!

I think the school is being unreasonable, but looking longer term, if your DD is a mature 8 year old and not squeamish, you could talk to her optician about lenses. Years ago, you had to wait till your teens to get lenses, but with advances in lens technology that's no longer the case. It's really down to if the child can cope with putting them in and taking them out.

DS was getting to the point of it being dangerous to play rugby with or without his glasses and lenses have been a godsend.

Shocked by this!

I'm nearly 30 and have had glasses since I was 6months old (yup,months! My mum still has them!) Never had an issue with sports at school when I was younger so really feel for your dd. I agree contacts are a good idea when older, I tried at 16 but mine were evil hard lenses. Definitely speak to someone higher up as if dd has a strong prescription then playing without glasses is incredibly dangerous.

That said, very few people know I can only use one eye at a time(not same as blind, both work just can't use together) so have no depth perception or ability to see in 3d. If they'd told me not to wear glasses at least I'd have had a visible excuse for being crap!

I used to wear a band on my glasses for horseriding but I haven't bothered for years as they never budged anyway, even if I fell off. I wear them for everything, including swimming as I need to be able to keep an eye on dcs and am too cowardly to swim underwater anyway. I've got plastic lenses and spring-loaded arms on my specs, they look flimsy but are actually quite robust. I reckon the worst injury I could get would be a broken nose but I would probably get that anyway if something hit me in the face! I really can't see the problem with a child wearing them for PE. If they fit properly they are unlikely to come off unless it's extreme physical contact like rugby or wrestling.

YANBU. This is ridiculous. I am short sighted and wore glasses from the age of 4. I played lots of sports growing up - hockey, football, netball, tennis, rugby - and always wore my glasses. I wouldn't have been able to play without them and would have been gutted. I love sport. Definitely speak to the school. This isn't fair

Cunts!!!

I know I sound really pissed off but I would be so furious. I wear glasses, have since 18 months, really thick horrid inch thick glasses ( absolutely hate them) unfortunately I have a turn in my eye without them so end up looking and feeling awful.I dont take my glasses off for anyone unless im wearing contacts. I avoid eye contact when swimming as feel so self conscious, coupled by the fact I cant see very well so already feel pretty vulnerable.

You're daughter has a disability and taking
her glasses off her is the same as taking a whewlchair off someone who can't walk.

What a wanker of a teacher!!!

You can get blurring effects free online. Take a photo of something. Get you dd to look at it without her glasses. Blur until it matches what she sees. Take both photos to the head.

I did this with my dh one time. He knew I was very shortsighted but had no idea what that actually meant until we did this. It shocked the hell out of him.

I second CUNTS! And I never use that word .

Also a glasses wearer here, was made to take them off for sport at school (20 years ago) and absolutely hated and was crap at sport as a result.

I will never forget the humiliation and anger I felt on the hockey pitch with everyone shouting "the balls right next to you" and me just thinking "Fucking WHERE? I cannot see without my glasses". I gave up sport as soon as I could.

As others have said, a simple band to keep them in place and if they get bashed/broken/bent, well whatever. I think it's very very unlikely your daughter would be badly injured as a result of, say, a ball in the head breaking her specs. She's more likely to be badly injured if she can't see the ball/other players well enough to react.

I really hope she continues to enjoy sport and isn't made more self conscious about her specs as a result of insane school.

Unbelievable.

Dd wears hers for all sports including swimming. Her prescription is -9 in each eye and she can't see 3 foot without them. Tell the school its more dangerous for her not to have her glasses on.....and it probably is.

I don't play tennis or any ball sport.

When I was about 11/12, my school was teaching tennis. I wore glasses.

The junior county champion, for it was she, hit a ball straight through my right glasses lenses. They were glass lenses.

It took the school nurse about four hours to remove all the splinters. They called for an ambulance but the paramedic just waited. She was terrified. I was terrified. My friend was shaking. I wasn't shaking out of absolute fear. I had glass splinters all around my eye and face.

Oddly enough, and I realise there are plastic lenses but I'm with the school on this one.

The junior champion was distraught. But did go on to become the senior school champ ( and every other sport)

Well my DS recently fell while running fast wearing his glasses, the corner of the frame cut the side of his face open and he now has a scar. He is long sighted, I don't know how much he needs them for sport tbh (he is 4), but he prefers to wear them for football training etc so I let him decide. I will definitely be going for a different kind of frame when he gets new ones shortly!!

Tx everyone. glad i am not being unreasonable! Her presc is -5/-4 so quite strong. I have -5/-5 myself so I lnow how little she sees w/o them.

Definitely going to talk w/the school, and could prob stretch to some sport glasses. The reasoning is that the glasses arent safe because of what wanksock describes.

handmini, are you me? I had the exact same experience. Put me off sports for 30 years. OP, please make a fuss on behalf of your daughter.

GiveIt - I don't think so, I'm me . Sorry you had the same shit experience.

Please do something about this. Pull her out of lessons until you've spoken to the ht. My eyesight is really bad and I wouldn't be able to see well at all without glasses. I really feel for her. Don't let this drop.