Leaving the stigma of "Four Eyes" in the past

By Rupini Alla

Sophomore Peggy Perna remembers getting her glasses in the third grade.

“Everyone was like how many fingers am I holding up? I laugh it off now but being a third-grader and called Four Eyes hurt,” she said...

Now that Perna and her classmates are in high school however, most people have left behind the playground habit of name-calling. It seems that students are able to sort out the pros and cons of glasses and contacts without worry about being teased. Some students are still concerned about their appearance, but some actually like the look of glasses.

Kalpita Patel, a junior who has perfect vision, said, “I think that glasses make you look smart and I would wear them for reading and school, but I would keep contacts for sports and stuff.”

Some people are still hung up on the idea that anything on your face is bad news. They feel that even though glasses make some people look smart, they tend to hide people’s eyes and consequently obscure the strongest facial feature.

“Glasses hide your eyes and they make them not stand out as much. They dull them out,” said Shah.

Some students can never find the right type of glasses for their facade.

“You can never find a cute pair no matter how hard you look,” said Jackie Lerner, who currently wears glasses but wishes to change to contacts.

Others, like Genevieve Brown, however, are happy as they search through the endless selection of frames at Lens Crafters.

“It was something new and I was excited that I could see clear,” she said.

Sophomore Sharon Kumar was not excited about having to get glasses, but the adjustment was quick.

“I wasn’t surprised when I was told I needed glasses. I got used to them in a day,” she said.

Then again there are some people that prefer contacts not for appearances but for practical reasons. From losing your glasses to breaking them at a cheering competition, everyone’s story with their eyewear is different. For Jessica Maurer, a sophomore with glasses, her story involves her older brother punching her in the face, her parents not buying her new glasses, and consequently having to walk around with broken glasses. “I had never hated my glasses so much than at that moment,” Maurer said.

Now that people are miles away from the playground and at BHS, Perna, who was teased and called four-eyes in third grade, actually prefers to wear glasses in school and only sheds her contacts for special occasions.

“Contacts can help you boost your confidence. I’ll wear my contacts to dates, formal occasions and to my cheering competitions,” said Perna.