Slip Slop Slap...Slide (On Your Sunnies)

by Shanel Sharma February 27, 2018

Slip slop slap. You know this mantra like the back of your hand.

It’s a neat catchphrase we teach our kids so that before they go out in the sun, as a matter of habit they slip on a shirt, slop on sunscreen and slap on a hat.

But there’s a step missing.

Slip Slop Slap Slide – Why Sunglasses Are An Essential Part of the Equation

Slip slop slap slide - sunglasses protect against UV rays

As an adult, you most likely slide on your sunglasses on a regular basis to shield your eyes from glare. Maybe you wear sunnies all year round or perhaps only during summer on the brightest, hottest days.

The thing is, are your kids wearing them?

We see this all the time – gorgeous families out for a stroll with the little one in the pram and a school-age child trotting along beside them. Mums and Dads at the beach with bubs and kids near the reflective water and the bright white sand. Children in the school playground every day, enjoying sports and playtime.

Parents usually have sunglasses on. The kids are hardly ever wearing eye protection.

If they are, they might be brightly coloured novelty glasses – pretty pink frames, funny shapes, something cheap and plastic for Australia Day.

These sunglasses do not offer the protection kids need. Their eyes are immature, still developing their natural defences against sun damage.

Your Kids Need You To Help Them Slip Slop Slap and Slide

When you think about what’s involved in the normal day of a school-aged kid, you’ll find them:

* Playing outdoors at lunch time, often in scorching heat during Australian summers

* Walking to and from school over reflective surfaces like concrete

* Being in or near water at the beach or swimming pool

* Gazing upwards at the sky to climb trees, fetch lost cricket balls or just because of their natural curiosity about the world.

They frequently do all of this without adequate eye protection. This can lead to vision impairment, painful eye diseases, eye cancers and cataracts – often later in life but we are seeing these conditions in young children now too.

If your family is outdoorsy and enjoys nature walks, boating or skiing, your child is even more susceptible to irreversible damage to their eyes and vision.

Sun Damage is Not Limited to Skin

Slip slop slap slide - Shanel Sharma eye testing

We actually developed Beamers Protective Sunglasses to address the alarming results of this study by Beamers co-founder Shanel Sharma, which found sun damage to the eyes of a high percentage of young children.

Here’s the thing: in order to test these children’s eyes, we used the same technology that is used to detect skin cancer from sun damage.

You might be the most diligent parent in the world when it comes to drumming in the slip slop slap habit in your kids. But it’s simply not enough to protect their eyes.

One of the biggest misconceptions about protective eyewear is that babies and young kids don’t need to wear them. As eye surgeons and parents, we are here to tell you that that is not true. Babies and young kids need protective sunglasses from the moment you take them into the sunlight, just as they need a shirt, high SPF sunscreen and a wide-brimmed hat.

Not All Sunglasses Are Created Equal

Even if the lenses of a pair of sunglasses claim to have UV protection, it’s not enough.

For the best protection against harmful UV rays, sunglasses should have:

1. Wraparound fit to prevent side light and reflective light from hitting your eyes.

2. Polarised lenses to filter out any reflected light.

3. Back coated lenses so that any unfiltered light that does get in through the side is allowed to pass out instead of bouncing back into your pupil.

4. Category 3 lenses with UV400, which filters out damaging UVA and UVB rays.

Only Beamers with Optoshield™ technology have all four features.

Our range includes sizes to fit kids from 1 year old right through to adults. Get yours today to offer your child the protection they need.

And remind them every single day: Slip Slop Slap Slide!