Teacher reports that student shined red laser in her eyes, investigation underway

ROWAN COUNTY, N.C. (WBTV) - The Rowan Sheriff’s Office has turned a case over to Juvenile Services after a teacher reported that a student shined a red laser in her eyes during a class.

The incident happened at West Rowan High on November 3, according to the report. The 45-year-old teacher was teaching a third block class when the student allegedly shined the laser in her eyes.

The teacher reported the incident to school administration on that day and the matter was handled internally, according to the report.

On Monday the incident was brought to the attention of the sheriff’s office for possible charges. Since the student is a juvenile, the case was turned over to Juvenile Services.

Since the incident, the teacher has had to seek medical treatment and has missed several days of work, according to the report.

Lasers can be dangerous to the human eye, depending on how powerful they are. A study quoted by Johns Hopkins University says “High-power lasers can damage the retina by shooting a powerful light current into the eye that penetrates the organ’s deepest layers in fractions of a second. The eye’s protective blink reflex is not fast enough to shut out the laser beam. In comparison, low-power laser pointers are relatively safer with short exposure because they emit a much weaker current that is blocked out by the blink reflex before it reaches the deep layers of the eye.”