In a word, NO.

But after spending most of my day combing through fascinating, important, life-changing health research, I can’t help but laugh at this recent controversy raised by Australia’s Daily Telegraph—and, thankfully, quickly debunked by other news outlets such as MSNBC.

The theory: Obstructed vision caused by the long, side-swept bangs made popular by the teenage heartthrob could cause amblyopia (the medical term for lazy eye), according to the optometrist quoted in the Telegraph, who warned that teens are risking their eyesight for the sake of fashion. The doctor stated that a curtain of hair over one eye could actually act like an eyepatch, limiting the eye’s access to both sunlight and sensory stimulation.

The truth: The optometrist quoted in MSNBC’s take said this could only be true “if you had someone young enough, and if that person never looked out of that eye—if it was blocked 24-7. The reason it’s false is that you don’t have that constant deprivation.” Lazy eye is a serious problem if not corrected in kids younger than 7, the age after which neural and optical mechanisms become well established and more difficult to correct.

In other silly health news, check out this claim addressed by The Atlantic: Can looking at your phone make your face saggy?

Plus: Outrageous Health Horrors That’ll Make You Mad