They will read and write and their retinas will burn.
Parents are calling on the city’s Department of Education to do more to prevent young students from damaging their eyes during Monday’s solar eclipse. The eclipse will reach its peak across the city, just as many schools will be leaving school around 3 p.m.
Farzan Mitul, the mother of a 12-year-old son who attends East Flushing’s George J. I’m going to blame it.” Queens told the Post.
Young people in the Big Apple will be tempted to stare directly at this cosmically cool event, where the moon will cover 89 percent of the sun, but they also worry it could damage retinal cells and lead to partial blindness. parents said.
“It can be dangerous to be outside,” Mintonwanou Ivodi said. His 4-year-old son attends the aptly named Bright Beginnings Preschool in Jamaica, Queens.
“Kids are curious, and so is my son. You might say, ‘Don’t look up,’ but you know how they feel, and some of them still try,” says taxi driver. Hand Ivodi said.
“I’m worried about my children,” added Katherine Colon, 39. The 5-year-old comes out of PS35 in Hell’s Kitchen at 2:20 p.m.
“I’m worried about her because she’s very curious and might want to look up, even for a short time. She needs the right glasses.”
Everything you need to know about the 2024 solar eclipse
- The solar eclipse will occur on Monday, April 8th, blocking the sun from more than 180 million people in its path.
- The eclipse will spread from the Pacific coast of Mexico across North America, hitting 15 U.S. states and reaching the shores of Newfoundland, Canada.
- New Yorkers will experience a solar eclipse Monday just after 2 p.m.
- Experts say a massive solar explosion known as a coronal mass ejection is expected. Ryan French of the National Solar Observatory in Boulder, Colorado, explains that this happens when huge particles from the sun are sent flying into space.
- To avoid serious damage to the eyes, during the pre- and post-total partial eclipse stages, the phenomenon must be viewed through appropriate glasses, such as eclipse glasses or hand-held solar observing devices.
- The next total solar eclipse will occur on August 12, 2026, and will be visible to people in Greenland, Iceland, Spain, Russia, and parts of Portugal.
The eye-scorching spectacle will be visible in the Big Apple from 2:10 to 4:36 p.m., with maximum viewing at 3:25 p.m. It comes shortly after the bell rings in many classrooms across the city and children are free to go home unsupervised. .
Meanwhile, Mitul said her son was supposed to receive safety glasses during class, but he did not.
“He leaves school at 2:45 p.m. and gets on the bus and goes home at 3:45 p.m. That’s when everything is happening. I’m really nervous about him,” said 35. a year-old Burger King manager said.
“He already has eye problems. He wears glasses with thick lenses,” Mitul said. “There’s no way he can look up at the sky. If he did, he could go blind or further damage his eyes.”
She and other parents argued that the city should either close the school or release the young students early Monday to keep them safe.
Hundreds of schools from Maine to Texas, including parts of upstate New York, have canceled classes to protect students’ eyes from harmful solar radiation and ensure they return home safely.
Looking directly at the sun during a solar eclipse can burn retinal cells and cause solar retinopathy, which is permanent photochemical damage to the macular tissue of the eye.
A spike in symptoms is reported every time a solar eclipse occurs, and after the 2017 eclipse, U.S. eye doctors experienced dozens more visits. According to the health report.
The New York City Department of Education did not immediately respond to the Post’s request for comment Thursday.
