When I was about 13 I remember reading The Dark is Rising until the sun went down, not paying much mind to how fast the daylight slipping away. It was one of the first books in my life I couldn’t put down, and I wanted so much to finish it before having to come down for dinner. My mother, she loved that I was reading, but when she caught me in my room reading in near darkness I remember her telling me, “You’ll ruin your eyes reading in the dark like that. Now come and eat.”

It was a terrible thought, my eyesight slowly fading the more hours I spent reading in growing twilight. I didn’t want to go blind but after I found my love for books it was hard to remember there was a world around me, let alone notice poor room lighting. Soon after I made sure to always do my reading in a well-lit room, sometimes preparing for the fact by turning on a light even while there was still daylight to be had.

But now that I am older and wiser, I decided to look in to this supposed bad habit. Was my mother right about the potential of me ruining my eyes by reading in low light? No, it turns out she wasn’t.

You will not damage your eyes just by reading in the dark. However, you may experience the discomfort of eye strain.

When you concentrate on reading in low light your eyes are forced to work overtime. The contrast between the dark print in your book against the lightness of the paper isn’t as stark as it would be if you were reading in a well-lit room. Your eyes have a harder time focusing, which is why most people have to bring a book closer in order to read it in dim light. This can cause muscle fatigue in your eyes, headaches and nausea. However these symptoms are temporary and will not damage your vision in the long run.

I win this one, mom!

–Magdalena

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