Fussbucket

by Stacey

A new study in last month’s journal Ophthalmic and Physiological Optics shows kids think other kids who wear glasses look smarter and more honest than kids who don’t wear glasses. According to this article on MSNBC.com (which I found after looking for the article by the reporter who commented in my previous post…) kids believe the stereotype that people who wear glasses actually know what they’re talking about. Like me!

Researcher Jeffrey Walline, assistant professor of optometry at Ohio State University and his colleagues surveyed 42 girls and 38 boys between the ages of 6 and 10 to get their views on glasses, the article says. The majority thought kids wearing glasses looked smarter and more honest than non-spectacled peers. “If the impression of looking smarter will appeal to a child, I would use that information and tell the child it is based on research,” Walline said. “Most kids getting glasses for the first time are sensitive about how they’re going to look. Some kids simply refuse to wear glasses because they think they’ll look ugly.”

Does this guy have kids? What six-year old is going change her mind about her new glasses because her mom said, “But honey, research shows other kids will admire you for wearing glasses”?

The researchers used 24 pairs of pictures showing children with and without glasses of varying gender and ethnicity. When presented with the photos, the young study participants were asked: Which child would you rather play with? Which looks smarter? Looks better at playing sports? Is better looking? Looks more shy? Looks more honest?

Despite the dorky researcher, the results were interesting. On average, two-thirds of the participating children said they thought that kids wearing glasses looked smarter, and 57 percent said they thought kids with glasses appeared to be more honest. The study found no connection between wearing glasses and perceptions regarding the other four questions, however. Walline attributes the findings to media portrayals associating wearing glasses with intelligence, a stereotype that even young children accept.

When I was growing up there was a time when my older sister wore glasses and had braces. All I wanted in the entire world was to have glasses and wear braces too. I didn’t give a hoot how it would have made me look, I just wanted to be like her. Unfortunately for me, my eyesight was fine.

Did you wear glasses as a kid? How did you feel about them? Have you had to convince your child to wear theirs?