Should sunglasses be part of school uniform?

June 27 marked the Vision Council’s national sunglasses day. Last year’s awareness day proved to be a big success and generated more than one billion social and broadcast media impressions, trended highly on twitter and stimulated conversations regarding UV protection and eye health.

This year’s day, falling on a particularly sunny Thursday in the UK, also caused quite a stir. An initiative launched by children’s eyewear brand Monkey Monkey asked whether school uniforms should include sunglasses to protect children’s eyes from the dangers of UV light.

Monkey Monkey commissioned a study into parents’ understanding of the dangers posed by UV radiation and their views on the place of UV protection in schools. The good-sized study of 1,000 parents with children aged four to 12 revealed that more than half, 54%, wanted sunglasses to become an official part of school uniform.