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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To be fuming that dd has sunstroke and both dd`s are sunburnt after school sports !

79 replies

fakeblonde · 01/07/2008 20:16

DD 2 is 12 and it was her first sports day.
She is obviously sufferring from sunstroke and had to miss a music concert shes been practising for for months. Ive had to give her rehydrate and paracetamol.
She only came in for lunch all day.
dd2 is 15 and whie she hasnt got sunstroke because she know to drink gallons she is burnt !
I have always been proud that despite dd1 living on a boat and sailing around the world fgs from 4-12 she never once got burnt.Yet i send her to school and she is raw.
Apparently they went to sit under the tree and were told to come back onto the center field.There was no shade and no fluids readily available.
I know i should have smothered them in sun block, but i didn`t realise at 7am that it was going to be 27 degrees and they would be on the sports field from 9 30 until 3.

OP posts:

ChopsTheDuck · 02/07/2008 09:19

dd got burnt a few weeks ago on a tennis trip. She is 8. I blame myself because I didn't apply suncream and provide her with the bottle to top up during the day. I certainly wouldn't expect the school to be responsible for ensuring children have suncream and water. She has a water bottle at school for water during the day and there are plenty of fountains about. I think yabu.

FAQ · 02/07/2008 09:23

sorry but I agree with most of the others. Your kids are 12 and 15 not little kids anymore.

Blimey - my DS2 (4) had his nursery trip (an all day one) yesterday - crap mum that I am I totally forgot the sun-block, but did remember to put 2 huge bottles of water in his bag. Apparently when he got to where they were going he told someone he didn't have sunblock and asked one of the parents who had gone with them (who happens to be my BF) if she had any she could put on him!

He also finished all of his water, and sought out one of the nursery staff on his own to ask for more to drink (the nursery had table extra drinks with them). HE also apparently went round bossing other children around when they took their hats off (sometimes he's just a little smart for his own good.......something I fear may be one of his pitfalls when he starts school in September)

He's 4 and he could figure that out so I'm sorry I think a 12 and 15yr old should have done so too.

Turniphead1 · 02/07/2008 09:29

This reply has been withdrawn

This has been withdrawn by MNHQ at the poster's request.

lucyellensmum · 02/07/2008 09:38

Bloody nora, you wouldnt think this would be so contraversial would you. Im torn really, i do think that the OP should have ensured that her children went to school with sunblock 12 and 15 are quite reasonable to look after themselves, but lets face it, they have far more "important" things on their minds at that age. I don't think it would have hurt the school to remind the children about sun block or covering up (long sleave cotton shirts?). Fluids should be available at all times i agree, does the school have drinking fountains?

I think at the end of the day it is the OPs responsibility however i do think that, if the assertions made by the OP regarding no shade etc are true, the school do share some of the responsibility here.

Love2bake · 02/07/2008 09:40

YABU

KnickersOnMaHead · 02/07/2008 09:45

Message withdrawn

ChukkyPig · 02/07/2008 09:46

But slapping some sunscreen on in the morning isn't going to help if you are in full sun all day. Factor 50 is 50 x how long you can go out unprotected. So for me 250 mins which is about 2 hours. They were out in full sun all day. If it was me, even with sun block, I would have burned to a crisp.

Why didn't they let them stand in the shade? It seems utterly bizarre to me.

northernrefugee39 · 02/07/2008 09:47

But sun cream and hats don't necessarily protect from heatstroke.
Some schools cancelled because of the heat. I think there should have been some shade provided, canopy sort of things.
Would the sports day have been cancelled if there had been heavy rain?
If these kids weren't allowed to go into shade, or go and get drink, I do think it's irresponsible.
But they should have had cream and hats- that's not the school's responsibility atall.

jammi · 02/07/2008 09:48

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

northernrefugee39 · 02/07/2008 09:49

Exactly chuckypig.
I do think it's a responsibilty of the school to have provided, or allowed them to stand in, shade. It's just being strict for nothing imo, forcing them to stand in the sun, when shade was available.

KnickersOnMaHead · 02/07/2008 09:50

Message withdrawn

nkf · 02/07/2008 09:53

Why didn't they put on suncream and take water? Look at the weather forecast the night before.

They aren't babies. They should know about the sun.

amidaiwish · 02/07/2008 10:55

YANBU

it is your responsibility to make sure they have cream and at their age it is their responsibility to use it, but to make the children stay in the blazing sun from 9-3.30 is completely irresponsible.

for a teacher to pull them from the shade is outrageous.

i would definitely be taking a photo of the sunburn and with a letter send it to the head.

i couldn't stay in blazing sun all day, even with a hat and cream on without ending up with sunstroke or a severe headache at least.

as for a lack of freely available cold drinks, that's terrible.

benandoli · 02/07/2008 10:58

Get a grip and teach your children some independence. Teachers are not allowed to put on suncream due to child protection. My 5 year old manages to put it on himself, it just takes time at home teaching them how to do it. At 12 and 15 they should be able to cope shouldnt they? Teachers have enough to do!!!!

amidaiwish · 02/07/2008 10:59

oh and dh got really burnt yesterday
he was out in the garden
asked me to get him a hat - but as i was working, looking after the dds, not even dressed at 1pm and totally maxed. i forgot to get him a hat.

then he got a burnt head and tried to blame me grrr.... i just laughed.

amidaiwish · 02/07/2008 11:02

ok, am going on here but this happened to me at university aged 20!

got up at 7am, when it was quite cold, and went on a day field trip in NE England.
i was wearing shorts and t-shirts, it became boiling hot. i had no hat, cream, nothing.
i left the main group and sat in the shade. University lecturer went mad at me, i was still listening but he made me rejoin the group. I told him i was getting burnt, he told me he wouldn't be long.

i fried. totally burnt, blistered legs.

THAT WAS HIS FAULT. not mine. i didn't have cream, i hadn't realised it was going to be so hot, no one else had cream either but they were all fine. Is there any difference to what happened to the OPs children yesterday?

Lazycow · 02/07/2008 11:08

I am astonished that people really think it is OK that the school refused to let the children sit/stand in the shade for some of the time. Sunblock or not, one of the children got SUNSTROKE. There was not enough water or shade provided. A reminder to drink would have been good too.

I HATE being in direct sunlight for too long and would condider it tortuous to be made to stand in direct sunlight from 9.30 - 3pm without some shade. Most people who live in hot climates know this, hence they tend to have more shade available.

Maybe it is difficult to plan in a country where the weather is unpredictable but to refuse to allow children to stay in the shade on a really hot day for the periods when they are not actually competing for 51/2 hours borders on cruelty in my opninion.

Discussions about putting sunblock on etc are pretty irelevant in that context.

FAQ · 02/07/2008 11:12

ok I've just had a thought about this....was the OP wasn't actually there was she??

Now I don't have teenagers (yet) but I do still remember being one - and I remember GROSSLY over exaggerating how things had been at school in the day sometimes...especially on things such as the topic that this thread is about.....

Turniphead1 · 02/07/2008 11:24

This reply has been withdrawn

This has been withdrawn by MNHQ at the poster's request.

Countingthegreyhairs · 02/07/2008 11:39

YANBU heat stroke is dangerous - hats & sun-cream don't prevent it

the ops dd2 did try and look after herself by seeking shade but was told off for doing so

the school didn't provide adequate shade or water

and it's the parents fault?

Sounds as though it was badly organised to me.

we had loads of organised events at our school such as outside masses and assemblies etc in the summer - over 1,000 pupils standing in a blazing courtyard - there was never any sun protection and the children used to drop like flies

had hoped that things had improved since my day though

also whilst understanding the difficulties owing to numbers of dc - I DO expect the teachers to supervise and do spot checks in those situations and keep an eye out for children who are running off, misbehaving or who are obviously poorly. Obviously you can't make sure every child has sun block on but some common sense preventative measures would surely be possible?

Why is that so unreasonable?

KnickersOnMaHead · 02/07/2008 11:43

Message withdrawn

chocolatedot · 02/07/2008 12:36

It's July, you know your kids are going to be out in the sun, it takes 30 seconds to check the weather online. God how I hate this blame culture.

Countingthegreyhairs · 02/07/2008 12:46

I loathe the blame culture too. But the school is responsible for taking sensible basic precautions. Sun cream doesn't prevent sun stroke.

nkf · 02/07/2008 12:55

One child is 15. What's that? Year 10? That is way too old to be expecting teachers to be chivvying around them with suncream.

And they probably wouldn't move out of the sun when told to. They'v been silly and are telling you porkies.

milknosugar · 02/07/2008 18:36

if i was made to stand in the sun all day i would vomit. i hate heat, it makes me ill. if my kids are going to be subjected to this i will take them out of school for that day. glad i had the warning tbh! im guessing that most of the yabu posts are people who like sun? i would also have burnt in that time, regardless of how much cream i put on.

i would make a complaint. kids should have the choice to go inside and do school work if the heat is making them uncomfortable

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