If you’re able to read this article, there’s a chance that you got your eyes checked by a doctor a while back or a few months ago, and got prescribed glasses or contacts. 

It’s a common scenario. In fact, 61% of Americans wear some type of eyewear to improve their sight, near and far. That’s about two thirds of the population! However, if you did have that scenario, you probably had to make the choice: glasses or contacts? 

While most people seem to choose glasses more, contact lenses are on the rise. So now we explore the pros and cons and try our best to figure out which one is better, especially for school. 

First up, contacts. One reason is sports. If you’re a person who enjoys playing sports and is even on a school team, this should be important to you. For glasses, playing any type of sport runs the risk of making them break, get stepped on, fall off, or generally get ruined. For contacts, however, that’s not a worry. You can play sports to your heart’s content and not worry about them falling, even when you get sweaty. 

Another reason is it doesn’t change the way you look. While some may like the look of glasses, others may lean toward their normal, non-glasses look. Contacts don’t make you look any differently. In fact, a study showed that children who wore contacts after wearing glasses for five years had higher self-esteem than those who continued wearing glasses. That must count for something. 

On the other hand, you’re risking losing your eyewear. Contact lenses are transparent, small, and easy to lose. You can avoid this by not taking them out anywhere except for home, but glasses are way harder to lose.  

And now we go to glasses. One advantage of glasses is that they’re less expensive. Glasses are cheaper than your typical contacts, and since the eye exams are more frequent, you’ll end up paying more dough for your eyesight. 

Secondly, they are customizable. You can get glasses with deers, hearts, or a penguin.  You can choose any color and customize to your heart’s content. Contacts, however, aren’t very varied. You can maybe change your eye color, but that’s it. Glasses can help you express yourself in ways you never thought possible. 

However, it can make some people feel uncomfortable and self conscious. The glasses can sometimes, especially if someone needs really thick, coke-bottle glasses, make people feel more timid and make them more self-conscious. And, as we said before, contacts don’t change your appearance at all. 

So, after all of that, do we have our verdict? No. What you want to wear depends on what works for you. While one person might love the look and feel of glasses, others are sporty and desire contacts. But we should have a verdict, so we’re asking you. What do you think? Cast your vote on our weekly poll, and maybe we’ll finally know which is better.