children sent to school with no sun protection

[melissa75]

I have been absolutely AMAZED by how many parents have sent their child to school yesterday and today with no suncream, hat, sunglasses etc...I had 5 in my class today with none of the above. It is a parents responsibility to protect their child's skin from the sun, it's pretty basic. Everyone knows about the causes of skin cancer, and about the issues with the ozone layer, or lack there of.

One of my kids came in today at the end of lunch with obvious sunburn on the back of his neck. It only takes one bad sunburn to put you at such a hugely increased risk for skin cancer...I know, I have had it.

I am thinking of not allowing my pupils out tomorrow at play if they do not have sun cream or a hat to protect them...The sad part is that 95% of children are well protected...but it is that 5% that always show up without...interestingly enough, they are also the ones who have to be chased for forms being signed and returned etc etc..
So, if you are one of the parents who have not sent their child in with suncream or a hat, please do so...it is so so so important.

cram???crEam, please

DS1 has long lasting sun cream applied at 8.15am and wears a hat, he wears glasses though so no sunglasses here. He would be lethal without his glasses.

Ooh melissa - not nice to correct someone's grammer surely???

OrangeFish - we are using P20 this year; have used UltraSun in the past too.

Dd1 is 5 and in reception. We had conflicting info from school, initially we were asked to apply in the morning and then send in a small named container. Since then we have been told not to send any in.

Thankfully my dd will wear her hat at the moment. She is very fair skinned. It is a legionnaires type hat with a big brim and flap over her neck, so even with a small amount of sun cream to last all day she has been fine. Imo a hat like this also reduces the need for sunglasses. Her summer school dress only really exposes her lower arms and legs.

Also the school are very good wrt gazebos, shade etc.

I can't find suncream wipes anywhere at all - suspect they've been discontinued? does anyone know?

"Ooh melissa - not nice to correct someone's grammer surely"

excuse me?? I was correcting my own grammar!

Makes a change

".interestingly enough, they are also the ones who have to be chased for forms being signed and returned etc etc.."

ahhh that would be me then - not because I can't be bothered, or think it's a waste of time - but because I genuinely totally forget to fill forms in and send them back.

On the sun protection front I put suncream on my DS's before they go to school - it goes on at 8,45 just as they're about to leave (when I remember ) and they have already left all their hats at school (and now lost) because they take them off as soon as they get there and don't bother with them again for the rest of the day.

There's only so much "forcing" to wear a hat you can do with a child before you have to admit defeat - and I've found the more you push it the less likely they are to wear it....

What do parents expect to happen to the children who 'won't' wear a hat? Not to go outside or to just hope they'll be ok?

well what do you want me to do - staple them to their heads? They may well put them on at break time to go out if they're told to by the teacher - but having walked past the playground (live close to both schools) my children are by far not the only ones to take them off as soon as they're outside. And these are children that I see wearing their hats into school and out again - but I can't see how the teachers can enforce it once they're all outside. Not given the number of "hats dumped by side of playground" I see on a daily basis.

so answer to your questioin - I just have to hope they'll be ok.

mind you it must be said that I am better at remembering to send them in with hats and suncream applied than I am at filling in forms

I was musing really. Just that if a child was ill due to being out in the sun with no hat on, would the parents be blaming the school? (Just thinking about the other thread with the child who got burnt).

I coat my DD in Boots Soltan Once cream just before we leave the house, it lasts 6 hours, so by the time it's worn off in the afternoon it's past the danger zone for burning (hopefully).

I also send a hat, but I'm not confident she wears it.

Lizzylou-you can get prescription sunglasses for kids. DD has them as she is blind as a bat without her glasses and her eyes are very sensitive to bright sunlight. Hers costs about £60 from Vision Express, a more "normal" prescription would have been about £30.

Just out of curiosity, will all you sunscreen-obsessives be whining and stamping your feet and threatening to sue when your DC all come down with rickets due to not having enough sunshine?
Human beings do actaully need a certain amount of exposure to sunlight, and there is such a thing as being too paranoid about it.
Or are some of you genuinely vampires?

What planet are you on SGB?

Primary school children are out in the sun for way more than enough time to get enough vitamin D. They do not need three hours of midsummer, 28 degree sun to avoid it.

Thank you Hula, where do you get it from?

I know Marialuisa, it's just he has been through about 7 pairs this year, and I wouldn't trust him to swap anyway.
There is a little girl in his class who has those lenses that change if they are inside or out, may have to investigate.

We used the Soltan One for Kids, factor 40, on our very fair-skinned children.

On holiday, it was over 100 degrees and they didn't burn at all - just walking around, not by the pool.

I put it on both of mine first thing in the morning and have told the school not to put any more on. They don't burn at all.

Why is this an issue?

Human beings do need a certain amount of exposure to sunlight.

That amount of exposure is not a couple of hours in the noonday sun in the middle of summer.

And if DD spent an hour outside in the midday sun without sunscreen she would be very badly burned (as would I, if I did it -- in fact, as was I, when I did do it as a child with parents who initially regarded sunscreen as a bit obsessive). Perhaps we are secretly vampires .

Sunscreen doesn't block the sun entirely, anyway. It just reduces its impact, so sunscreened children are still getting exposure. Which is why I can still get PLE even through most sunscreen.

3hours of midsummer sun - what planet is that on that primary school children are out for 3 hours???? 15 minutes (approx by the time they all get outside) breaktime in the morning lunchtime (what 1/2hr once they've actually eaten their lunch) and then at DS2's infant school an "optional" afternoon play - also about 15 minutes....2hours.

And that's presuming they're actually in the sun the whole time they're outside.

We walk to school (ten minutes), he plays before he goes in (ten minutes), he has a morning break (15), a lunchtime break (30-45), an afternoon break (15), at least two other fifteen minute outdoor play sessions (30), we walk home (20). Park after school (30-60). To be fair, we cut out the park session yesterday because he was too hot.

There is no shelter in my son's playground.

I didn't say "midday" sun. I said "midsummer". Surely this week still qualifies as midsummer ?

Sorry OP I'm only human, sometimes I forget!!

DD has fairest skin, is brilliant, puts on cream/hat if asked.
DS1 (quite fair) refuses to wear a hat & I have to creatively bribe him to sometimes get him to put sun cream on.
DS2 is a brown walnut anyway, but usually complies.

Yes it's important but LOTS of things are important & I can't remember them all.

But how long are children outside at a time for during the school day. I don't think it's more than 30 mins.