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Video Summary: If time is of the essence, stop the video at 4m:15s or 6m:15s.
- A new program called Vision for Baltimore provides eye exams and two pairs of glasses free of charge to every K-8 student in Baltimore City who needs them.
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About 25 percent of students in Baltimore who need glasses do not have access to them due to their high cost and the high level of poverty in Baltimore.
- More than 30 percent of children live below the poverty line in Baltimore; the national average is 22 percent.
- City health department officials, a nonprofit organization called Vision to Learn, researchers from Johns Hopkins University and the eye wear retailer Warby Parker are working together to provide the exams, prescriptions, and fashionable glasses.
- Researchers from John Hopkins report students improve academically after getting glasses.
Discussion questions:
- Essential question : How does poverty affect a child's opportunity to learn?
- Do you know someone who wears glasses who wouldn't be able to perform everyday functions without them?
- Whose responsibility is it to help children get access to proper health care? Explain your answer.
- Besides improved academic learning, can you think of other long term benefits that providing glasses to those who need them may have on society?
