Sun bed - gym on school premises!

[lemony21]

I must first point out that the children of the school involved do not have access to the sun bed.

The local secondary has a well equipped gym which the public can use when the pupils do not. There is a cupboard/room just off the gym that contains a sun bed and it is well advertised in and around the gym.

Is it just me who thinks it's totally inappropriate to have such a high risk facility on school premises and to have it within a health & fitness environment? What message does this send? It's just as high risk as smoking and they wouldn't be selling cigarettes there so why is this acceptable?

No, it's nowhere near as high risk as smoking and doesn't impact on others.

I'd really love to hear more thoughts and opinions on this before I go head first into a letter to the head/governors.

You do realise school are severely underfunded and it's a case of every opportunity to maximise revenue streams?

What 'message' is a sun bed sending? you lost me on that point, a tan is a tan is a tan, be it gained in Bali, via spray or via a sunbed. What message is a tan sending? It's wrong to be a bit brown ?

It is nothing like tobacco. At least do some basic research and use some facts before firing one off to he HT ..... but please ....Let us see your letter - you are going to be that parent

Sunbeds are dangerous, they damage the skin and can lead to cancer. In Britain we don't usually have enough sun to cause the same amount of damage. There was a documentary recently and there were a number of people who had skin cancer which could be directly linked to regular sunbed use.

Yanbu. Schools are underfunded, but they wouldn't maximise revenue by installing a cigarette machine, would they?

Sunbeds are inherently dangerous, they are responsible for a significant number of malignant skin cancers. Having it available for public use is one thing, but there certainly shouldn't be posters advertising it in an area that the children regularly use.

I think you are being unreasonable and overreacting. Sunbeds can be beneficial for some people with certain health conditions and even some medical professionals recommend their use for increasing vitamin D. I don't think the same could be said for cigarettes.

YANBU. They are dangerous, and it is immoral to facilitate and encourage their use.

YANBU. Sun beds are now banned for commercial use in Australia and the UK should think about following suit. They emit dangerous and concentrated amounts of UV radiation. I think the comparison with tobacco is a bit silly - the school is not advertising or selling cigarettes.

My partner has just had skin cancer removed at 30. We don't know what caused it exactly but he used sinners a lot as a teenager/young adult. I think it's inappropriate in a school.

Do you think a sun bed isn't comparable to smoking?