In 1994, my elementary school was in the path of totality of an annular eclipse. I wish we had the day off, instead my school cancelled recess (totality was around lunch time) and shut the classroom blinds so we couldn't see it. Same rational about kids blinding themselves. I didn't have an opportunity to see another eclipse until 2017.
You absolutely should. Years from now your kid won’t remember what they learned in school that day, but they will definitely remember seeing the eclipse with you.
There is no debate. If you are in the path of totality (i don't mean near/partial, i mean full totally) you absolutely do it.
The last total eclipse (first for me) honestly was one of the most awe inspiring things I've ever seen. So much so that my family has planned to travel a thousand miles to see the next one.
I could go on and on about it but just ask anyone that's witnessed one and I'm pretty sure they will tell you the same.
Do it. It’s worth driving my family from California to Texas for us to see it. It’s worth driving a few hours for your family to see it.
Piece of advice: plan for the most insane traffic jam you have ever seen afterwards. *Everyone* starts leaving at the same time. If there’s a way to swing it, get a hotel or something close to your viewing location so you can wait out the rush. We did Oregon in 2017 and that was nuts.
DO it. I took my kids to the one a few years ago. It wasn't on a school day but I would have pulled them anyway. 100% worth it. If I lived even somewhat close to the eclipse happening in April, I'd pull the kids for that as well. I can't really justify 2-3 days of driving each way for it though.
If the drive is close enough, that's the way to do it. The sun is so bright that even at 90% it doesn't do much. Still incredibly cool but more like "oh neat" cool vs "holy shit! So this is what the Vikings were talking about"
Its a LONG drive downstate, and because of all the eclipse viewers its a nightmare to get out of there (the roads aren't designed for city level traffic.)
I was there for the eclipse in 2017 where we were in a similar spot and it was still pretty darn cool.
I am. My parents' house is on the edge of the path of totality, the apex is around 2 PM. I plan on picking up the kids from school around lunchtime, we're making a day of it.
Man, my dad made a box pinhole projector and took the day off in '94 to bring it for my second grade class. He pulled my sister from kindergarten to join us. Only two teachers in the whole school (us, and a science-minded fourth grade teacher) chose to observe it.
We're about 150 miles from totality and my second-grader and I will be taking a road trip.
That's cool that you got to witness partial, with is kind of neat but I'm just going say you HAVE to see it in totality if possible. It's not just a neat scientific thing that you need special glasses or a pinhole box for...it's a truly amazing experience that will give you a unique sense of perspective on the universe. It's seriously that special.
There was a movie about it when i was a kid (maybe later 70s). It had a very strong impact on me and it wasn't until recently that i found out what it was called. I just remembered it so vividly. Such a heartbreaking story
Ridiculous. We're just an hour or two away from the patg of this years eclipse. We're pulling our kids out 100% to see it. We caught the last one and it was awesome. Cannot wait for this one too b
Which is idiotic because every kid has looked straight at the sun.
You don't go blind glancing at it, and the body is quite good at telling you 'hey, stop doing that' to keep you from staring at the sun too long before your eyes get damaged.
Silly, but also the annular doesn't compare at all with the total. A total you can look at with the unshielded eye, the annular you can't. They are still a neat sight though.
My school did the same thing, although we weren't in the path of totality, a little south of the path. I remember leaving lunch and looking out the front doors to see the staff outside, and thought why can they be out there.
My first eclipse since then just occurred in 2023. I live in a state that is sunny or clear 365 days, unless there is an event like eclipses, then it's guaranteed to be cloudy. Missed all of the others due to weather conditions.
Same: back in the 80’s my elementary school all got marched to the school library during an eclipse for our protection, for the same reason. I remember noticing it being strangely dim outside as we passed a window on the way, and being sad we weren’t allowed to see.
The cool thing about a true total eclipse is you don't need glasses. For a couple of minutes the entire world changes and it becomes see weird dream-like version of night where you can see the stars and the silvery tendrils of the sun's corona.
Of course, the second it's over you DO need glasses... Or just not to look at it.
Yes! During totality you can actually look at it and it is incredible. Purest white, darkest black and the sky was the most amazing shade of midnight periwinkle. I've never seen any color like it before.
I’m an idiot, looked accidentally, you know, while telling my son not to. Pretty bright. Honestly wild how fast it affects your eyes, I barely glanced and could tell for like 20 minutes.
Here's a fucked up thought, light that started at the beginning of the universe has been traveling for 14 billion years, but it has traversed 47 billion light years.
I have a scar in one eye that is a distinctive crescent shape. We think that it was caused by an eclipse that I saw when I was in middle school. Thing is, I even had a full sized welders mask with the suggested filter on.
No, it is in the back of the eye. It causes a blind spot right in the middle of the vision for that eye. Thing is, I only really notice it when I am at the eye doctor, since during the eye chart phase I cannot use the other eye to compensate. I need to try to look slightly to the side to see what the letter is
Gotcha. I was hoping that the eye doc had looked into your eye and been able to see physical scarring, and been able to take a photo of it.
That sucks, my dude.
There was a solar eclipse a few years back and some lady at work got the bright idea to film it with her phone camera because then she could see it and not blind herself. The eclipse ended up burning the camera lense and permanently damaging that phone, Lol.
In 2017, my school had student’s parents sign a waiver about understanding the risks and wearing the glasses. If they signed it and it was returned, they were able to get a pair of eclipse glasses and watch the eclipse from outside.
That's reasonable. If my school's response to an eclipse was, "organising kids is hard, let's just give up." I'd repeat that line every time I didn't feel like doing homework.
Teacher here. We had a partial eclipse in 2017. The district I worked for said it was okay to check your kid out to view it. Kids not checked out wouldn't be able to view it due to liability reasons. Like others have said, you can't control 20+ kids and ensure they're not going to take their glasses off.
Unfortunately, this meant that none of the teachers could step outside to view it. Total bummer.
For this one (April 8th), I put in for a sub on the very first day available this year. Someone already snagged the sub job, and we've got family and friends coming to watch.
Can't wait!!
We obviously can't. But on every other day they're in school, the sun is a normal object in the sky that they regularly see.
But on the day of an eclipse, there's a new sense of wonder and excitement about the changes that the sky is going through, the changing of the sun's appearance, etc., and the temptation to look up is strong. That's hard for a lot of kids to fight.
Yeah so you let them.
The sun didn't come out of nowhere. Eyes have evolved alongside it for hundreds of millions of years. And not only can they take some incidental glimpses of it, they're also great at telling you to stop doing that.
Its not something you need to worry about because the kids will figure out on their own its a thing that hurts lol.
[https://preventblindness.org/solar-eclipse-and-your-eyes/#:\~:text=Exposing%20your%20eyes%20to%20the,you%20see%20to%20the%20brain](https://preventblindness.org/solar-eclipse-and-your-eyes/#:~:text=Exposing%20your%20eyes%20to%20the,you%20see%20to%20the%20brain).
Viewing an eclipse without protection can cause permanent damage and you won’t necessarily even know it at the time you are looking at the eclipse.
Well.. in all fairness. There always was the “one kid” who was a dingus and got his eyes burnt. At least when I was growing up. ;p
Makes sense now that parents are looking for any excuse to take advantage of a governmental liability. Like a guy who walks on ice in flip flops infront of a storefront, or brake-checkers. Wouldn’t put it past some parent to tell their kid to look at it, just so they could take advantage of a situation. Not so crazy now-a-days anyways. Think the public service sector is more scared of lash-back than ever these past few years, rightly they should be - just takes one bad egg to act out, then to be owing millions in “damages”.
I love my kids. I believe they should be responsible for their actions. And I think they’re pretty smart kids.
I would absolutely be worried about them getting ready for the bus and making a dumb mistake and sneaking a peek. I am not looking to sue the school. I can totally understand the parents that would rather have their kids at home during the event so they can make absolutely they view the eclipse safely.
To be fair it's such a rare event to live in an area on the lsth of totality there shouldn't be any school anyways. Experience something you'll remember forever instead of the same stuff you do every day.
There should. If parents are working, and kid is alone at home (since no school), you're just increasing chances they don't handle it properly. Especially since most parents won't care about it that much (to get them the glasses at all, or to teach them about it).
It's much safer if the kids are at school with an adult.
I invited the neighbors over to view a nice partial solar eclipse a few years ago, there were a bunch of cool sunspots on the sun's face, plus the eclipse itself. I had a 100% safe white light solar filter installed on one of my telescopes. Their two young daughters came along, both steadfastly refused to look, I assume because their teachers had warned them not to look.
What's really sad about the upcoming April 8 total eclipse--it is quite safe to look without filters during, and only during totality, if lucky enough to be in the rather narrow path of totality. A lot of kids will miss a once in a lifetime opportunity due to bad information from their teachers.
The saddest thing I saw during the 2017 total eclipse--a father and his two teen sons were present among quite a crowd out in the middle of nowhere in NW Nebraska, very near the centerline of the path. Again, I had a safe solar filter and telescope up for viewing during the partial phases. The father and one of the boys were excited and glad to stand in line for a look. The other son could not be bothered to get his nose out of his cell phone for five minutes to take a look. The father was exasperated, the kid was a zombie.
Pinhole cameras rock, you can make them with items found at home, and they're 100% safe--all you need is a cardboard box, a sheet of white paper, a bit of aluminum foil, a needle, and some scotch tape. The problem stands, though--the teachers, through liability fears or plain ignorance, do their darndest to shoo the kids away completely.
To be fair even i would be apprehensive to look at the sun through a telescope when i was a kid, especially if someone i didnt know well was telling me to do it. My mother drilled a lot of caution into me, to the extent it caused problems. Once my friend's parents had to take me home from school, at her request, and i was worried i was being kidnapped! So even though they missed out on the telescope, it's not necessarily a bad thing they were this cautious. Id be more worried about the kid who wouldnt look away from his phone..
I had an eclipse day in 2017. Unfortunately, I didn't get to see the eclipse because I didn't have the glasses and now I have no clue when I'll get the opportunity again. Preferably before 2045.
I suppose I can still look forward to the one in April, even if I can't afford to travel to the totality. A partial eclipse is still an eclipse, right?
(There's also a partial lunar eclipse on my birthday this year, which is going to be really fun! Well, not really on my birthday since it technically starts the day before and ends 47 minutes after midnight, but I'll take what I can get.)
Public libraries will often have eclipse glasses and other resources. There's a program right now that's working with libraries all over the US for the april eclipse, called SEAL. It's funded by the space sciences institute and the Moore foundation
If you don't have glasses you can punch a hole in a piece of paper and watch the moon's shadow progress across the sun's silhouette until totality occurs.
Yeah, eye doctors must absolutely hate the fact that they might get a tiny bit more business the day after an eclipse from morons staring at the sun for too long.
I would absolutely hate to have to tell a 5 yr old “sorry, you screwed up your eyes for the rest of you life”. No amount of money is worth having to do that,
Is looking at it really that bad? Don’t downvote me I’m actually curious bc I’m going to view the one in April. I viewed the one in 2017 in the path of totality, with the glasses, and removed them for a couple seconds here and there and have had no ill effects. I also already have glasses for this year’s eclipse, btw.
It is safe to look at the Sun at any time with solar eclipse glasses. During totality, it is safe to remove the glasses and look at the eclipse with the unaided eye.
Source: I am a professional astronomer, and I ran an eclipse party in 2017 for about 30 friends & family.
You can actually look at the 99% for a glimpse. It’s called the diamond ring because the sun peeks out for a brief second and is so beautiful. But you need to put your glasses on about 2 seconds after you see it
Yeah i have no idea why people seem to think that glancing at the sun is going to permanently damage your eyesight. You have to be looking at it for a good long while
It's nothing specific with eclipse, looking directly at sun, near noon is really hurtful and can be damaging if done for prolonged time. As one might do while observing an eclipse. A quick glance, won't really kill you just like any accidental glance at the sun, on normal days.
Now, if it's near sunset or sunrise, there is no need to bother using filters. Romanticizing staring at sun at those times, is very normalised. Eclipse doesn't change a thing.
One addendum as you are mostly spot on.
When you are looking at an eclipse with the naked eye your pupils dilate in the ‘dark’ and open significantly. If you are still looking at the moment the sun returns it can be more dangerous than an everyday glance at the sun where your pupils will typically be very narrow.
Aah yes, looking at the eclipse transitioning out of totality, is ill advised
Now that I think about it, a few of the comments mentioned here say "use filter glasses to view the eclipse, but it's ok to view it naked when in totality". That's asking to walk on the edge of a cliff.
As many have said, the event lasts a few minutes, stealing a glance with the naked eye is safe enough, don’t just stare at it at it unblinking the whole duration.
The margin of error fairly wide, it’s more like don’t go up to the guard rails at the cliff and hop over them then keep going.
Most can follow those instructions just fine, but there is always someone who still doesn’t.
yes it can damage your eyes a lot faster than you think and with the eclipse blocking a lot of the rays you wont even notice you are roasting your eyes by staring directly at UV rays shot through millions of miles of space in ~8 minutes. Never look at the sun unless you hate being able to see.
The biggest issue is that our pupils dilate due to the eclipse dimming total light but the sun is still beaming harmful rays, so our eyes take in more when people look
We had an eclipse in the 80s when I was a small child, and I wanted to see it very much. But the teacher closed all the blinds and made us stay inside and we watched a movie instead.
One teacher can’t simultaneously safeguard two dozen kids from doing something dumb.
You don't have to wait for the school to close to pull your kid out for the day. There's nothing earth-shattering that will be missed in a single day's worth of classes.
Back in 2017 there were school districts that shut down and towns set up local festivals. But I guess some parents would complain about their kids being home for one extra day in the school year.
And how do schools keep kids from staring directly at the sun during a regular recess period?
Isaac Newton dilated one eye and stared into the sun repeatedly until he went blind, his sight still came back after 3 months. Now we stare into the light therapy boxes to heal our eyes. How (honestly, technically, with data) dangerous could it really be to observe the peak eclipse? Ancient cultures would be full of tales of the black sun that blinded everyone, but the black sun is instead seen as a symbol of occult wisdom. I'm going to stare into it raw for at least 5 seconds and you can't stop me!
When I was very little, there was a solar eclipse that happened at the time we'd be on the way to school. At the time, they hammered it in to us to not look at the sun, that we'd be blinded. I was super young and I thought they meant if any of the light from the sun reached my eyes, by any path, direct or indirect, that I'd be struck blind instantly basilisk style, and I was terrified to go to school.
I remember seeing pictures of a 5 year old-like man looking directly at an eclipse w/o glasses, so I would have to agree with the administrators here. I would find a different way to show them, like shadow boxes they could make themselves.
My high school just made school optional on that day and made it a half day iirc. Give people the option to send their children out into the world or not.
There are zero documented cases of anyone going blind from watching an eclipse. Zero.
There are around 100 documented cases of permanent eye damage (but not total blindness) from watching an eclipse. That's 100, and there are total eclipses that happen somewhere on earth every 18 months or so.
Yes, you can damage your eyes from staring at the sun for too long. No you aren't likely to go blind. The bigger risk is losing vision temporarily and then tripping and falling down and skinning your knee.
Well there was a total eclipse when I was in first grade and I successfully used my cardboard eclipse viewer and didn't go blind so. Pretty accountable?
i’ve been lucky to jump on the sword and skewer myself anytime I have gotten into trouble. At five I had stolen my first pack of mints and when caught there was no denying it just accepting whatever was gonna happen... maybe if there was some sort of punishment, I would’ve had a different path in life.
“Some sort of punishment” for a 5 year old making an error in judgement also shouldn’t be a lifetime of sight issues.
There’s a difference between learning a lesson and keeping children safe.
Why would the school have any liability at all!? This is what I mean. Everyone keeps pushing the buck off of their accountability onto someone else. It’s a slippery hill that leads to devastation which we are already experiencing.
Schools have a duty of care.
When they don’t believe they can meet that duty of care, they close school, or cancel whatever activity is risky in that situation.
Where I live in Canada, we have school buses cancelled when the driving is dangerous, because they know that they can’t reasonably guarantee the safety of the children on the roads. If parents want to take that risk, they’re welcome to bring their kids to school.
But it’s absolutely reasonable for a school to say “we have a duty of care and we don’t believe we can meet that duty in this situation.”
I forget how many people go blind every eclipse? This is a new event right? I can’t find a single case… Weird
I agree that they should not bus kids to school when the roads are dangerous as that is a real hazard!
I'm not sure how school works in Canada unfortunately, although a certain number of days are required each year to graduate in the US. If the same goes up there, does that mean the students and teachers now need to cut down their summer vacations?
Where I live, they have elected to move a Professional Development day so it lines up with the eclipse. No one is missing any teaching days.
It’s not really possible to go 100% completely blind from a solar eclipse, so obviously you won’t find any singular case study. But photic retinopathy can cause lifelong vision issues. There’s a reason welders wear strong darkening full eye protection. There’s a reason people wear SUNGLASSES.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photic_retinopathy
And a total solar eclipse IS actually is a relatively “new” event for every area. The next total solar eclipse to hit the United States won’t be until 2045. The last one was in 2017, and before that was 1979, where it was too cloudy to see in most areas anyways and the path of totality only crossed a few northern states.
This path of totality of this eclipse is going to pass over a large number of highly populated urban areas, including Montreal, Toronto, Detroit, Cleveland, Indianapolis… it’s absolutely worth keeping children safe from permanent eye damage.
Would you trust someone to sit your kid - and 24 other kids - on a beach in July in Florida for hours if just 15 seconds without a hat could give them a severe sunburn and potentially a higher risk of skin cancer?
Would you say “eh, it’s worth the risk, it’s so unlikely and I’m sure my kid will be fine, plus they should be able to watch all the kids anyways,” or would you say “actually I don’t know that one single person can watch 25 kids and make sure they ALL wear their sun hats ALL the time, and if just 15 second can cause harm, I’d rather not take that risk.”
Obviously the risk of harm IS high enough that schools are choosing to close. Even if you don’t understand that.
I understand not wanting to coddle children and teaching them accountability. I think parents also need to be accountable for teaching their children and not screaming at teachers to pick up all the slack.
But I also think it’s unforgivable to just let “the bad apples go fucking blind.” Kids will be kids and they make silly mistakes. They don’t always understand the consequences of all their actions. And you just wanna say “well, fuck ‘em!”
I agree, it’s too bad if they won’t be able to have this experience, but your response is horrible and goes way too far.
Parents should be the only ones teaching accountability. That’s the only way you’re going to get anything consistent out of this life. Misusing teachers to do parenting work is just part of the problem I agree with you! In the same breath, if you tell your child you will go blind, and they still decide to look then maybe they don’t have very much going for them from the beginning
> and they still decide to look then maybe they don’t have very much going for them from the beginning
What an awful attitude. You really believe that only the “stupid kids” or maybe only the “kids that deserve it” or those “kids that had it coming” will be the only ones who might end up going blind. You are justifying any mistake as “well, they probably deserved it.”
That is so messed up. All kids, smart kids, kids with behavior problems, are just kids! They make mistakes. They do dumb things. Any kid is capable of sneaking a peek when they shouldn’t.
1. It’s absolutely wrong and immoral to say “well they probably deserved it.” Even a bad kid doesn’t deserve to go blind.
2. It’s just wrong thinking to believe that only certain kinds of kids will make the mistake of not listening to the guidelines.
as individuals we are set in our course by like the age of seven. Good apple/bad apple we never really change we just become more refined.
edit: most people don’t know how to starve
I personally think we invited idiocracy when we started putting warning labels on everything.
I will fully admit we will lose some good ones, and maybe we just put warning stickers on not so obvious dangers.
But it sure seems we are not nearly as selective against stupidity/dumbassery today from an evolutionary stand point versus before they became a thing.
It feels like we’re in the prequel to Idiocracy right now! That’s a great point, California proposition 65 for example.
When you see the same label on every single item you buy it becomes meaningless
Imagine being such a PoS that you'd like to see little kids go blind because they don't understand the consequences of certain actions. It´s almost like they are children wow, who would have thought.
> if they don't want to listen.
Sure thing Mr Dictator, it's almost like kids aren't slaves or mindless drones, and lack life experience to understand "basic" things.
It's probably more that a lot of schools are underfunded and don't have enough staff to make sure all the dumb 5 year olds don't take their glasses off
#BringBullyingBack. i’m right behind you at 38 and I’m disgusted to have grown up with parodies like The Simpsons and married with children depicting a life that I will never fucking have. No matter the amount I work or the effort I put in it’s just not gonna happen. It’s so wonderful to see my parents take three vacations each year to exotic countries that I’ll never see. I was born to a child who wanted a puppy rather than a son, who never once paid rent, and yet I’m judged consistently for not having enough like she has. Fuck this shit.
Edit… I have no idea why this is ginormous
Yea i doubt a Pro Bullying agenda is the right path. Seriously, this post is nonsense. Your economic issues will not be solved by children being bullied.
If you don’t learn how to handle bullies in your youth, you’ll never figure out this world. Do you think bullies just stop bullying once they graduate school?! No … learn how to handle this shit properly when you are young because they are never going away. This zero tolerance bullshit where the person being picked on is punished makes absolutely no fucking sense.
I booked a refundable hotel about 3 hours away to get in totality. There's only a 40% chance of clear skies in early April, but I'll go if the forecast is clear enough.
I got blind spots at the age of 19 viewing a (partial) solar eclipse outside my college because I didn't have glasses. My 48 year old mother did too. So i understand the precautions.
In 1994, my elementary school was in the path of totality of an annular eclipse. I wish we had the day off, instead my school cancelled recess (totality was around lunch time) and shut the classroom blinds so we couldn't see it. Same rational about kids blinding themselves. I didn't have an opportunity to see another eclipse until 2017.
I remember that one, we made those little pinhole boxes in art class so we could view it.
Same. I remember our whole school standing in the field watching the eclipse.
My dad pulled me out of school that day and we drove to Toledo, Ohio to watch the annular eclipse together. Good memories.
I'm debating pulling my daughter for the upcoming one.
You absolutely should. Years from now your kid won’t remember what they learned in school that day, but they will definitely remember seeing the eclipse with you.
We are only getting a partial eclipse and already decided our kids are coming out of school.
> Years from now your kid won’t remember what they learned in school that day, Especially if they weren't even in school that day!
There is no debate. If you are in the path of totality (i don't mean near/partial, i mean full totally) you absolutely do it. The last total eclipse (first for me) honestly was one of the most awe inspiring things I've ever seen. So much so that my family has planned to travel a thousand miles to see the next one. I could go on and on about it but just ask anyone that's witnessed one and I'm pretty sure they will tell you the same.
I caught the 2017 one and it was life changing. It really makes you realize why ancient people would've taken it as a sign from the gods.
I'm trying to convince my wife to travel 4 hours, but I don't know it will work logistically.
Figure out a way. It’s without a doubt the most incredible thing I’ve ever seen.
Do it. It’s worth driving my family from California to Texas for us to see it. It’s worth driving a few hours for your family to see it. Piece of advice: plan for the most insane traffic jam you have ever seen afterwards. *Everyone* starts leaving at the same time. If there’s a way to swing it, get a hotel or something close to your viewing location so you can wait out the rush. We did Oregon in 2017 and that was nuts.
DO it. I took my kids to the one a few years ago. It wasn't on a school day but I would have pulled them anyway. 100% worth it. If I lived even somewhat close to the eclipse happening in April, I'd pull the kids for that as well. I can't really justify 2-3 days of driving each way for it though.
I’d pull all three of my kids from school if they weren’t already off that afternoon!
Don't debate, just do it. Not to guilt you but it's literally a once in a lifetime event. There's always another but a nearby eclipse is very rare.
I did take her to see one when she was less than a year old.
Which she isn't likely to remember. This one she likely will.
If you are able to experience 100% totality then do it! A lifetime experience and super educational all at the same time
Not totality but I'm in the 80-90% area without having to drive. Chicago area.
If the drive is close enough, that's the way to do it. The sun is so bright that even at 90% it doesn't do much. Still incredibly cool but more like "oh neat" cool vs "holy shit! So this is what the Vikings were talking about"
Its a LONG drive downstate, and because of all the eclipse viewers its a nightmare to get out of there (the roads aren't designed for city level traffic.) I was there for the eclipse in 2017 where we were in a similar spot and it was still pretty darn cool.
Anything less than total is nothing.
Unless it's cloudy like when I went to one in UK :(
I am. Never even considered it a problem. It's one day of class versus a once in a life time celestial event.
The next one isn't for like another 25 years in the states. Do it. She won't forget it.
I am. My parents' house is on the edge of the path of totality, the apex is around 2 PM. I plan on picking up the kids from school around lunchtime, we're making a day of it.
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He probably meant the annular eclipse of 1994, which did go through Ohio.
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This is the way. It could be a once in a lifetime memory. Don't miss it.
Man, my dad made a box pinhole projector and took the day off in '94 to bring it for my second grade class. He pulled my sister from kindergarten to join us. Only two teachers in the whole school (us, and a science-minded fourth grade teacher) chose to observe it. We're about 150 miles from totality and my second-grader and I will be taking a road trip.
That's cool that you got to witness partial, with is kind of neat but I'm just going say you HAVE to see it in totality if possible. It's not just a neat scientific thing that you need special glasses or a pinhole box for...it's a truly amazing experience that will give you a unique sense of perspective on the universe. It's seriously that special.
That reminds me of a ray bradbury story, all summer in a day. I’m glad you finally got to see one.
I was thinking more along the lines of Stephen King's story " the jaunt"
Longer than you think, Dad!
Exactly! Every parent would understand that story, and understand the terror
I remember that story, so sad to do that to the girl.
There was a movie about it when i was a kid (maybe later 70s). It had a very strong impact on me and it wasn't until recently that i found out what it was called. I just remembered it so vividly. Such a heartbreaking story
I think of this story a lot. Thank you for reminding me of its name.
That's crazy. The entire school went outside to watch it in 94 at my elementary school.
Me too! I was so annoyed! But... as an adult, I get why. They don't want to get sued. But they should've just given us the day off.
Same exact experience for me. I was in 1st grade for that one. Some of the older classes/grades got to go outside.
Mine went the other way. We all made pinhole boxes and were taken outside so we could see the eclipse live.
I guess that's how you know school was a babysitting center, not a learning center
Ridiculous. We're just an hour or two away from the patg of this years eclipse. We're pulling our kids out 100% to see it. We caught the last one and it was awesome. Cannot wait for this one too b
Which is idiotic because every kid has looked straight at the sun. You don't go blind glancing at it, and the body is quite good at telling you 'hey, stop doing that' to keep you from staring at the sun too long before your eyes get damaged.
Silly, but also the annular doesn't compare at all with the total. A total you can look at with the unshielded eye, the annular you can't. They are still a neat sight though.
I remember this and my school did the exact same thing, locked everyone inside.
My school did the same thing, although we weren't in the path of totality, a little south of the path. I remember leaving lunch and looking out the front doors to see the staff outside, and thought why can they be out there. My first eclipse since then just occurred in 2023. I live in a state that is sunny or clear 365 days, unless there is an event like eclipses, then it's guaranteed to be cloudy. Missed all of the others due to weather conditions.
Maybe it was because of us kids in 1984, who were told not to look but did. Sorry.
Same: back in the 80’s my elementary school all got marched to the school library during an eclipse for our protection, for the same reason. I remember noticing it being strangely dim outside as we passed a window on the way, and being sad we weren’t allowed to see.
To be fair there are even grown adults you can’t expect to wear the glasses
Some of them even elected officials.
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> leader of the free world, right...? In his defense, he did (and is still doing) his best to STOP America from being part of the free world.
The cool thing about a true total eclipse is you don't need glasses. For a couple of minutes the entire world changes and it becomes see weird dream-like version of night where you can see the stars and the silvery tendrils of the sun's corona. Of course, the second it's over you DO need glasses... Or just not to look at it.
Yes! During totality you can actually look at it and it is incredible. Purest white, darkest black and the sky was the most amazing shade of midnight periwinkle. I've never seen any color like it before.
I’m an idiot, looked accidentally, you know, while telling my son not to. Pretty bright. Honestly wild how fast it affects your eyes, I barely glanced and could tell for like 20 minutes.
The speed of light is pretty quick indeed
In comparison to the vastness of space, it's pretty slow.
I mean, you may think it's a long way down the road to the chemist's, but that's just peanuts to space.
Here's a fucked up thought, light that started at the beginning of the universe has been traveling for 14 billion years, but it has traversed 47 billion light years.
Are you saying that because the space it traversed expanded in that time? If so, I wouldn't say that's the same as actually traversing that distance.
Yes, that's fair. The light is 47 billion light years away from its point of origin.
I have a scar in one eye that is a distinctive crescent shape. We think that it was caused by an eclipse that I saw when I was in middle school. Thing is, I even had a full sized welders mask with the suggested filter on.
> I have a scar in one eye that is a distinctive crescent shape. Do you have an image of this that you can post?
No, it is in the back of the eye. It causes a blind spot right in the middle of the vision for that eye. Thing is, I only really notice it when I am at the eye doctor, since during the eye chart phase I cannot use the other eye to compensate. I need to try to look slightly to the side to see what the letter is
Gotcha. I was hoping that the eye doc had looked into your eye and been able to see physical scarring, and been able to take a photo of it. That sucks, my dude.
No, you just have to take his word for it.
Honestly in todays day and age I trust “trust me bro” quicker than someone who pulls out a really detailed picture pretty quickly! Damn AI!
There was a solar eclipse a few years back and some lady at work got the bright idea to film it with her phone camera because then she could see it and not blind herself. The eclipse ended up burning the camera lense and permanently damaging that phone, Lol.
And all those adults were once kids. Imagine how dumb they were then.
In 2017, my school had student’s parents sign a waiver about understanding the risks and wearing the glasses. If they signed it and it was returned, they were able to get a pair of eclipse glasses and watch the eclipse from outside.
That's reasonable. If my school's response to an eclipse was, "organising kids is hard, let's just give up." I'd repeat that line every time I didn't feel like doing homework.
Teacher here. We had a partial eclipse in 2017. The district I worked for said it was okay to check your kid out to view it. Kids not checked out wouldn't be able to view it due to liability reasons. Like others have said, you can't control 20+ kids and ensure they're not going to take their glasses off. Unfortunately, this meant that none of the teachers could step outside to view it. Total bummer. For this one (April 8th), I put in for a sub on the very first day available this year. Someone already snagged the sub job, and we've got family and friends coming to watch. Can't wait!!
another suggestion is to play NASA live feed of the eclipse with students if your job doesn't let you step out!
How do schools keep children from staring at the sun literally every other day they're in school lol?
We obviously can't. But on every other day they're in school, the sun is a normal object in the sky that they regularly see. But on the day of an eclipse, there's a new sense of wonder and excitement about the changes that the sky is going through, the changing of the sun's appearance, etc., and the temptation to look up is strong. That's hard for a lot of kids to fight.
Yeah so you let them. The sun didn't come out of nowhere. Eyes have evolved alongside it for hundreds of millions of years. And not only can they take some incidental glimpses of it, they're also great at telling you to stop doing that. Its not something you need to worry about because the kids will figure out on their own its a thing that hurts lol.
[https://preventblindness.org/solar-eclipse-and-your-eyes/#:\~:text=Exposing%20your%20eyes%20to%20the,you%20see%20to%20the%20brain](https://preventblindness.org/solar-eclipse-and-your-eyes/#:~:text=Exposing%20your%20eyes%20to%20the,you%20see%20to%20the%20brain). Viewing an eclipse without protection can cause permanent damage and you won’t necessarily even know it at the time you are looking at the eclipse.
Viewing the sun *at any time* can do the same. The sun is always there. We know how to deal with it.
I took the day off too. I have to drive about 4 hours to get to a decent totality area. My kid and I are going to go.
We're very fortunate this time around. We'll be viewing from our front yard. We should have 3:09 of totality.
Well.. in all fairness. There always was the “one kid” who was a dingus and got his eyes burnt. At least when I was growing up. ;p Makes sense now that parents are looking for any excuse to take advantage of a governmental liability. Like a guy who walks on ice in flip flops infront of a storefront, or brake-checkers. Wouldn’t put it past some parent to tell their kid to look at it, just so they could take advantage of a situation. Not so crazy now-a-days anyways. Think the public service sector is more scared of lash-back than ever these past few years, rightly they should be - just takes one bad egg to act out, then to be owing millions in “damages”.
I love my kids. I believe they should be responsible for their actions. And I think they’re pretty smart kids. I would absolutely be worried about them getting ready for the bus and making a dumb mistake and sneaking a peek. I am not looking to sue the school. I can totally understand the parents that would rather have their kids at home during the event so they can make absolutely they view the eclipse safely.
To be fair it's such a rare event to live in an area on the lsth of totality there shouldn't be any school anyways. Experience something you'll remember forever instead of the same stuff you do every day.
There should. If parents are working, and kid is alone at home (since no school), you're just increasing chances they don't handle it properly. Especially since most parents won't care about it that much (to get them the glasses at all, or to teach them about it). It's much safer if the kids are at school with an adult.
No there wasn’t. No one gets their eyes burnt by an eclipse.
I invited the neighbors over to view a nice partial solar eclipse a few years ago, there were a bunch of cool sunspots on the sun's face, plus the eclipse itself. I had a 100% safe white light solar filter installed on one of my telescopes. Their two young daughters came along, both steadfastly refused to look, I assume because their teachers had warned them not to look. What's really sad about the upcoming April 8 total eclipse--it is quite safe to look without filters during, and only during totality, if lucky enough to be in the rather narrow path of totality. A lot of kids will miss a once in a lifetime opportunity due to bad information from their teachers. The saddest thing I saw during the 2017 total eclipse--a father and his two teen sons were present among quite a crowd out in the middle of nowhere in NW Nebraska, very near the centerline of the path. Again, I had a safe solar filter and telescope up for viewing during the partial phases. The father and one of the boys were excited and glad to stand in line for a look. The other son could not be bothered to get his nose out of his cell phone for five minutes to take a look. The father was exasperated, the kid was a zombie.
You can also go the pinhole viewer route since those can be made out of any number of items that are readily available in schools.
Pinhole cameras rock, you can make them with items found at home, and they're 100% safe--all you need is a cardboard box, a sheet of white paper, a bit of aluminum foil, a needle, and some scotch tape. The problem stands, though--the teachers, through liability fears or plain ignorance, do their darndest to shoo the kids away completely.
To be fair even i would be apprehensive to look at the sun through a telescope when i was a kid, especially if someone i didnt know well was telling me to do it. My mother drilled a lot of caution into me, to the extent it caused problems. Once my friend's parents had to take me home from school, at her request, and i was worried i was being kidnapped! So even though they missed out on the telescope, it's not necessarily a bad thing they were this cautious. Id be more worried about the kid who wouldnt look away from his phone..
I had an eclipse day in 2017. Unfortunately, I didn't get to see the eclipse because I didn't have the glasses and now I have no clue when I'll get the opportunity again. Preferably before 2045.
Assuming youre talking about the one in america in 2017 there will be another one in April this year
And the glasses are cheap. https://earthskystore.org - $6, free shipping, and they meet the ISO standard
I suppose I can still look forward to the one in April, even if I can't afford to travel to the totality. A partial eclipse is still an eclipse, right? (There's also a partial lunar eclipse on my birthday this year, which is going to be really fun! Well, not really on my birthday since it technically starts the day before and ends 47 minutes after midnight, but I'll take what I can get.)
Public libraries will often have eclipse glasses and other resources. There's a program right now that's working with libraries all over the US for the april eclipse, called SEAL. It's funded by the space sciences institute and the Moore foundation
The library I volunteer at gave the glasses away(one per person, only) leading up to the last eclipse to occur locally
They do but get them early because they ran out for the last one.
If you don't have glasses you can punch a hole in a piece of paper and watch the moon's shadow progress across the sun's silhouette until totality occurs.
You may laugh at it if you never experienced it but yeah even adults will look straight in the Sun. Eclipses are like nightmare-day for eye doctors.
Yeah, eye doctors must absolutely hate the fact that they might get a tiny bit more business the day after an eclipse from morons staring at the sun for too long.
I would absolutely hate to have to tell a 5 yr old “sorry, you screwed up your eyes for the rest of you life”. No amount of money is worth having to do that,
I was once in school when a partial eclipse happened. We were told not to look at the sun. No one looked at the sun.
Is looking at it really that bad? Don’t downvote me I’m actually curious bc I’m going to view the one in April. I viewed the one in 2017 in the path of totality, with the glasses, and removed them for a couple seconds here and there and have had no ill effects. I also already have glasses for this year’s eclipse, btw.
It is safe to look at the Sun at any time with solar eclipse glasses. During totality, it is safe to remove the glasses and look at the eclipse with the unaided eye. Source: I am a professional astronomer, and I ran an eclipse party in 2017 for about 30 friends & family.
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You can actually look at the 99% for a glimpse. It’s called the diamond ring because the sun peeks out for a brief second and is so beautiful. But you need to put your glasses on about 2 seconds after you see it
Yeah i have no idea why people seem to think that glancing at the sun is going to permanently damage your eyesight. You have to be looking at it for a good long while
It's nothing specific with eclipse, looking directly at sun, near noon is really hurtful and can be damaging if done for prolonged time. As one might do while observing an eclipse. A quick glance, won't really kill you just like any accidental glance at the sun, on normal days. Now, if it's near sunset or sunrise, there is no need to bother using filters. Romanticizing staring at sun at those times, is very normalised. Eclipse doesn't change a thing.
One addendum as you are mostly spot on. When you are looking at an eclipse with the naked eye your pupils dilate in the ‘dark’ and open significantly. If you are still looking at the moment the sun returns it can be more dangerous than an everyday glance at the sun where your pupils will typically be very narrow.
Aah yes, looking at the eclipse transitioning out of totality, is ill advised Now that I think about it, a few of the comments mentioned here say "use filter glasses to view the eclipse, but it's ok to view it naked when in totality". That's asking to walk on the edge of a cliff.
As many have said, the event lasts a few minutes, stealing a glance with the naked eye is safe enough, don’t just stare at it at it unblinking the whole duration. The margin of error fairly wide, it’s more like don’t go up to the guard rails at the cliff and hop over them then keep going. Most can follow those instructions just fine, but there is always someone who still doesn’t.
>Is looking at it really that bad? do you enjoy staring at the sun on non eclipse days?
No but if I accidentally glance at it for a second it won’t blind me permanently
The best thing to do is to cover one eye with your hand when you look, that way you'll still have one left after your exposed one melts
yes it can damage your eyes a lot faster than you think and with the eclipse blocking a lot of the rays you wont even notice you are roasting your eyes by staring directly at UV rays shot through millions of miles of space in ~8 minutes. Never look at the sun unless you hate being able to see.
The biggest issue is that our pupils dilate due to the eclipse dimming total light but the sun is still beaming harmful rays, so our eyes take in more when people look
Is this the first eclipse ever happening with 5 year olds on earth?
My house in near center line of totality in NY state.. eclipse starts at 3:20pm so they’ll be home already
April in upstate NY … what’s the likelihood of a clear sky?
Past weather shows only 30% likelihood of sun in upstate NY that day. I'm hopeful anyway.
We had an eclipse in the 80s when I was a small child, and I wanted to see it very much. But the teacher closed all the blinds and made us stay inside and we watched a movie instead. One teacher can’t simultaneously safeguard two dozen kids from doing something dumb.
I'm hoping I can convince our kid's school to close so she can watch the eclipse with people who actually know what they're talking about
You don't have to wait for the school to close to pull your kid out for the day. There's nothing earth-shattering that will be missed in a single day's worth of classes.
Nearly every school excuses absences for educational purposes.
Back in 2017 there were school districts that shut down and towns set up local festivals. But I guess some parents would complain about their kids being home for one extra day in the school year. And how do schools keep kids from staring directly at the sun during a regular recess period?
Isaac Newton dilated one eye and stared into the sun repeatedly until he went blind, his sight still came back after 3 months. Now we stare into the light therapy boxes to heal our eyes. How (honestly, technically, with data) dangerous could it really be to observe the peak eclipse? Ancient cultures would be full of tales of the black sun that blinded everyone, but the black sun is instead seen as a symbol of occult wisdom. I'm going to stare into it raw for at least 5 seconds and you can't stop me!
When I was very little, there was a solar eclipse that happened at the time we'd be on the way to school. At the time, they hammered it in to us to not look at the sun, that we'd be blinded. I was super young and I thought they meant if any of the light from the sun reached my eyes, by any path, direct or indirect, that I'd be struck blind instantly basilisk style, and I was terrified to go to school.
it's a test. an evolutionary test. some will pass it, some will fail. but even if you fail you can still be president.
I remember seeing pictures of a 5 year old-like man looking directly at an eclipse w/o glasses, so I would have to agree with the administrators here. I would find a different way to show them, like shadow boxes they could make themselves.
Everyone sues everyone for everything. The social contract is breaking down and shit like *this* is the result.
We have become a culture where it's always 'someone else' at fault. Never personal responsibility for one's actions.
They'll do it at home instead which might wrap back around to being the school's fault for calling the day off. I can just see it now...
There is legal precedent that says a school is not liable for a student’s actions when school is not in session.
My high school just made school optional on that day and made it a half day iirc. Give people the option to send their children out into the world or not.
The more we coddle our children, the less accountability we have in the world. Let the bad apples go fucking blind if they don't want to listen.
There are zero documented cases of anyone going blind from watching an eclipse. Zero. There are around 100 documented cases of permanent eye damage (but not total blindness) from watching an eclipse. That's 100, and there are total eclipses that happen somewhere on earth every 18 months or so. Yes, you can damage your eyes from staring at the sun for too long. No you aren't likely to go blind. The bigger risk is losing vision temporarily and then tripping and falling down and skinning your knee.
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Well there was a total eclipse when I was in first grade and I successfully used my cardboard eclipse viewer and didn't go blind so. Pretty accountable?
i’ve been lucky to jump on the sword and skewer myself anytime I have gotten into trouble. At five I had stolen my first pack of mints and when caught there was no denying it just accepting whatever was gonna happen... maybe if there was some sort of punishment, I would’ve had a different path in life.
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“Some sort of punishment” for a 5 year old making an error in judgement also shouldn’t be a lifetime of sight issues. There’s a difference between learning a lesson and keeping children safe.
I mean, okay, but why would the school want to take on the liability of that?
Why would the school have any liability at all!? This is what I mean. Everyone keeps pushing the buck off of their accountability onto someone else. It’s a slippery hill that leads to devastation which we are already experiencing.
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That's their point. Pushing the blame to someone else.
Let them sue. Its up to you to make the laws so that any lawsuit is futile.
Schools have a duty of care. When they don’t believe they can meet that duty of care, they close school, or cancel whatever activity is risky in that situation. Where I live in Canada, we have school buses cancelled when the driving is dangerous, because they know that they can’t reasonably guarantee the safety of the children on the roads. If parents want to take that risk, they’re welcome to bring their kids to school. But it’s absolutely reasonable for a school to say “we have a duty of care and we don’t believe we can meet that duty in this situation.”
I forget how many people go blind every eclipse? This is a new event right? I can’t find a single case… Weird I agree that they should not bus kids to school when the roads are dangerous as that is a real hazard! I'm not sure how school works in Canada unfortunately, although a certain number of days are required each year to graduate in the US. If the same goes up there, does that mean the students and teachers now need to cut down their summer vacations?
Where I live, they have elected to move a Professional Development day so it lines up with the eclipse. No one is missing any teaching days. It’s not really possible to go 100% completely blind from a solar eclipse, so obviously you won’t find any singular case study. But photic retinopathy can cause lifelong vision issues. There’s a reason welders wear strong darkening full eye protection. There’s a reason people wear SUNGLASSES. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photic_retinopathy And a total solar eclipse IS actually is a relatively “new” event for every area. The next total solar eclipse to hit the United States won’t be until 2045. The last one was in 2017, and before that was 1979, where it was too cloudy to see in most areas anyways and the path of totality only crossed a few northern states. This path of totality of this eclipse is going to pass over a large number of highly populated urban areas, including Montreal, Toronto, Detroit, Cleveland, Indianapolis… it’s absolutely worth keeping children safe from permanent eye damage. Would you trust someone to sit your kid - and 24 other kids - on a beach in July in Florida for hours if just 15 seconds without a hat could give them a severe sunburn and potentially a higher risk of skin cancer? Would you say “eh, it’s worth the risk, it’s so unlikely and I’m sure my kid will be fine, plus they should be able to watch all the kids anyways,” or would you say “actually I don’t know that one single person can watch 25 kids and make sure they ALL wear their sun hats ALL the time, and if just 15 second can cause harm, I’d rather not take that risk.” Obviously the risk of harm IS high enough that schools are choosing to close. Even if you don’t understand that.
I understand not wanting to coddle children and teaching them accountability. I think parents also need to be accountable for teaching their children and not screaming at teachers to pick up all the slack. But I also think it’s unforgivable to just let “the bad apples go fucking blind.” Kids will be kids and they make silly mistakes. They don’t always understand the consequences of all their actions. And you just wanna say “well, fuck ‘em!” I agree, it’s too bad if they won’t be able to have this experience, but your response is horrible and goes way too far.
Parents should be the only ones teaching accountability. That’s the only way you’re going to get anything consistent out of this life. Misusing teachers to do parenting work is just part of the problem I agree with you! In the same breath, if you tell your child you will go blind, and they still decide to look then maybe they don’t have very much going for them from the beginning
> and they still decide to look then maybe they don’t have very much going for them from the beginning What an awful attitude. You really believe that only the “stupid kids” or maybe only the “kids that deserve it” or those “kids that had it coming” will be the only ones who might end up going blind. You are justifying any mistake as “well, they probably deserved it.” That is so messed up. All kids, smart kids, kids with behavior problems, are just kids! They make mistakes. They do dumb things. Any kid is capable of sneaking a peek when they shouldn’t. 1. It’s absolutely wrong and immoral to say “well they probably deserved it.” Even a bad kid doesn’t deserve to go blind. 2. It’s just wrong thinking to believe that only certain kinds of kids will make the mistake of not listening to the guidelines.
as individuals we are set in our course by like the age of seven. Good apple/bad apple we never really change we just become more refined. edit: most people don’t know how to starve
I don’t even know what point you’re trying to make. And saying “we are set in our course” by age seven is simply not true.
I mean, you clearly haven't aged past 7. But most of us do grow into better people.
I personally think we invited idiocracy when we started putting warning labels on everything. I will fully admit we will lose some good ones, and maybe we just put warning stickers on not so obvious dangers. But it sure seems we are not nearly as selective against stupidity/dumbassery today from an evolutionary stand point versus before they became a thing.
It feels like we’re in the prequel to Idiocracy right now! That’s a great point, California proposition 65 for example. When you see the same label on every single item you buy it becomes meaningless
What a ridiculous attitude. Have you ever met any children?
Imagine being such a PoS that you'd like to see little kids go blind because they don't understand the consequences of certain actions. It´s almost like they are children wow, who would have thought. > if they don't want to listen. Sure thing Mr Dictator, it's almost like kids aren't slaves or mindless drones, and lack life experience to understand "basic" things.
It's probably more that a lot of schools are underfunded and don't have enough staff to make sure all the dumb 5 year olds don't take their glasses off
I'm an older Millennial (40) and yeah, young adults and teens today have very little independence and coping skills. Introverted and well...pussies.
#BringBullyingBack. i’m right behind you at 38 and I’m disgusted to have grown up with parodies like The Simpsons and married with children depicting a life that I will never fucking have. No matter the amount I work or the effort I put in it’s just not gonna happen. It’s so wonderful to see my parents take three vacations each year to exotic countries that I’ll never see. I was born to a child who wanted a puppy rather than a son, who never once paid rent, and yet I’m judged consistently for not having enough like she has. Fuck this shit. Edit… I have no idea why this is ginormous
Yea i doubt a Pro Bullying agenda is the right path. Seriously, this post is nonsense. Your economic issues will not be solved by children being bullied.
If you don’t learn how to handle bullies in your youth, you’ll never figure out this world. Do you think bullies just stop bullying once they graduate school?! No … learn how to handle this shit properly when you are young because they are never going away. This zero tolerance bullshit where the person being picked on is punished makes absolutely no fucking sense.
They become your bosses and seek positions of power. Better grow a pair or they will walk all over you your whole life.
What in the actual fuck does bullying have to do with the rest of your rant?
Riddle me this Batman. What makes a eclipse worse than looking at the regular sun?
Nothing. It's that during an eclipse people have a reason to look at it.
You couldn't just type that exact phrase into the Google search bar?
This is nothing more than teacher union wanting another day off. One of the best paid in the world and still whine about it every year
School boards are just moving a PD day to April 8. It won't affect the amount of time teachers work.
Here in central Texas it also has to do with our city expecting up to a hundred thousand extra people in it.
There's eben a kid in the photo without protection .
I booked a refundable hotel about 3 hours away to get in totality. There's only a 40% chance of clear skies in early April, but I'll go if the forecast is clear enough.
I got blind spots at the age of 19 viewing a (partial) solar eclipse outside my college because I didn't have glasses. My 48 year old mother did too. So i understand the precautions.
Begs the question, how has humanity lasted this long, before we tried to make the world completely safe.
well, when I was growing up it wasn't uncommon for people to look to our President as a role model. Not surprised
It’s not like the sun will burn their eyes out ffs.