Youngsters teased for wearing glasses

Many British schoolchildren would rather endure squinting at the whiteboard than being teased for wearing their glasses, research has shown.

A study of UK schoolchildren by optician Vision Express has found a third of those who wear spectacles have experienced teasing or bullying.

Many youngsters (26 per cent) said they would hide their glasses because they were embarrassed about them, and one in six (16 per cent) preferred to squint at the whiteboard rather than wear their glasses in the classroom.

Parents were also worried about the impact of their child wearing glasses.

Two in five parents (39 per cent) of primary school students surveyed had never taken their child for an eye test, and 13 per cent feared their child would be teased if they wore glasses (13 per cent).

The research found that celebrities like Rihanna could help change the perception of spectacles. Eight out of ten children surveyed believed that seeing famous people wearing glasses was helping them become more accepted by their peers. The favourite glasses-wearing celebrities were Tinie Tempah, Selena Gomez and Justin Bieber.