It is back-to-school time once again. As a parent, you are about to spend a ton of money making sure your kids have everything they need for a safe and productive school year. You might have to replace those broken sunglasses, too. After all, you don’t want Junior running around the playground being exposed to UV rays.

We have heard for years how important it is for kids to wear sunglasses whenever they are outdoors. With that established, you now have the arduous task of making sure the kids have sunglasses they will wear.

If they are taking their glasses off and sticking them in their pockets as soon as they get out of sight, the shades you bought them aren’t doing them any good.

With that in mind, here are three things to remember as you shop for back-to-school sunglasses:

1. UV Protection is the Most Important

The bottom line for every pair of sunglasses is UV protection. That is the whole reason for buying sunglasses in the first place. Before you purchase, read the label attached to every pair you look at. The labels should include UV information.

A rating of UV 400 indicates that the sunglasses block all ultraviolet rays. This is the rating you should shoot for. If you cannot find a pair rated UV 400, UV 300 should be your absolute minimum. Anything less and those sunglasses will not protect your kids’ eyes.

For the record, note that UV protection has nothing to do with tint. UV protection is achieved by embedding a transparent filter layer in the lenses. Because that layer is transparent, it is entirely possible to produce a pair of non-tinted glasses that still offer maximum UV protection.

They May Break

The second thing to remember is that those brand-new sunglasses may break just weeks after you buy them. Not only is this normal, it is also not the end of the world. That’s the way it goes with kids.

They put holes in the knees of their new jeans, and they break their new sunglasses. It’s all part of what goes into being a kid.

The point of mentioning this is to say that you don’t have to spend $100 on children’s sunglasses. Moreover, you shouldn’t.

Don’t spend that kind of money on something that could become little more than a heap of trash after a long day on the playground. Limit your budget to $25 or less. That way, it will be easier to take when Junior comes home and tells you he needs a new pair.

Ask for Their Input

Finally, ask for input from your kids. Find out what styles they like and don’t like. Why? Because your kids are not going to wear sunglasses they think are ugly. They may wear them on the way to the bus stop, but rest assured those ugly shades will come off as soon as the kids are out of sight.

We used to do the same thing when we were kids. If we didn’t like that ugly jacket Mom and Dad wanted us to wear, we would take it off as soon as we got away from the house. Far better to be cold and fashionable than warm and ugly, right? Absolutely.

It’s that time of year again when all the kiddos head back to school. Good luck to you as you spend the next several weeks procuring all of those school supplies a modern education demands.

If you are shopping for back-to-school sunglasses, just keep in mind the three points you read here. You and your kids will be happier in the long run.