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.

How do you KNOW they've had no suncream on though OP?!?

see my kids won't wear hats (or lose them within seconds of putting them on).

They are also naturally good tanners and spend hours outside after school, before school, and at weekends (usually without sunblock) and have built up a healthy tan over weeks (ie never burn). So I tend not to think of sending them in with sunblock to school - also because they won't remember to use it. They do go in the shade when they are too hot in the sun.

Ozone problems are more acute in the spring - not so bad now. Their skin is doing its think by tanning and protecting them. They are outside only for up to half an hour in the middle of the say - so shouldn't burn in that time.

Thus my kids would be ones that would upset you I think.

I use suncream and a hat but I suspect sunglasses would be lost in no time! I wear them all the time myself, but I don't wear a hat and a hat with a brim is quite good protection for the face. It is a point though, I could take them with me so he could at least wear them on the way home.

Because children tell you things when you ask them, Bramshott!

Yeeess, but my DD1 would be quite capabable of swearing blind she'd had no cream on, when actually she had had (or vice versa!).

lljjk...agreed...there are LOADS of important things that need to be taken care of/completed etc... but one must prioritise, and IMO, health ALWAYS takes top prioroty, because without your health, you do not have anything.

Bramshott, I know this, because I asked the kids, and they said no, and because I think it is such an issue of huge importance, I then asked the parent if they could ensure they send their child in with suncream applied and a hat if possible.

"They are outside only for up to half an hour in the middle of the say - so shouldn't burn in that time."
Not in my school! The kids are out for 30 minutes morning and afternoon (two 15 minute plays), one hour at lunch and most classes have 1-2 outdor PE sessions a week either morning or afternoon...so thats a lot more than 30 minutes of outside time! Primetime in the sun is 11-2 give or take.

FYI...you do not have to be fair skinned to get a malignent melanoma...cancer does not discriminate! throckenholt...I sincerely do not wish your children are ones who in twenty years time end up with skin cancer

Our school won't allow sunglasses or you to send in suncream because some children have allergies.They do keep a supply of sunhats though for those who haven't got them
Also remeber some children are allergic

What's the point about allergic? The kids have had it applied in the morning so if they touch an allergic child, there is a problem. You can't use that as an reason not to allow the kids to put sunscreen on at school or indeed at home.

And if you read the other thread the Australians have no such worries. Maybe their kids don't get so many allerges from being outside a lot more?

I shall use their "health" as an excuse next time we're late, then, Melissa (there must be a tickbox for time-needed-to-return-to-house-for-forgotten-suncream on the authorized abscence forms, right?). Or when DS arrives in a super foulsome mood coz we had a row about it.

I'm surprised schools actually sent children into the playground Way too hot to be outside especially at lunch time and hottest time of the day. They should all have had indoor play where they were sheltered. Works two ways. The teachers at my child's school won't help put sun cream on them and it would be a complete mess letting them do it themselves. I put P20 on in the morning and it lasted all day - maybe some parents did this.

Oh yes, the bad parents who don't do anything right - probably the ones who need some support but who find the 'system' so woefully inadequate and lacking in compassion that nothing ever gets better.

Why don't you use some schools funds and buy a big tub of factor 50 and give them a break, huh?

Of course the children are the innocent victims but I think it simply crap to moan about the usual culprits, as you indicate, in this way and to say nothing of what you have done to help the situation.

sometimes we have children when life is good and then suddenly life isn't good and we are no longer the fab parents we were and nobody helps but plenty criticise.

Good post, hobbgoblin.

And perhaps schools could provide more areas with shade. Plant trees or something like that etc.

Our school (the one that prohibits kids bringing in suncream) uses the get out Of course parents are welcome to come in and reapply suncream at lunchtime if they feel it necessary.And some do ,which just makes it worse for parents who work !

At the end of the day, it is your children who are not being protected from the sun. I am just so amazed by the "excuses" people have for not protecting their childrens skin.
Children are rarely going to come and ask you to put suncream on them, or tell you to make them wear a hat because they simply are not old enough to understand the long term implications of intense sun exposure...but we as adults can and should understand these implications, and it is my job as my childrens mother to protect them in every possible way I can.

My school, as I mentioned, does not allow staff to put suncream on the children, there are loads of reasons as to why, health and safety mainly. If I could do it, I would do it, but I can't. Therefore it comes down to the parents responsiblity.

"I shall use their "health" as an excuse next time we're late"

lljjk...I am wondering why health is in ""? Do you not think your child's health is of the utmost priority? Do you not think that protecting your child from the sun is to do with their longterm health?

All I know is, in 20 years time, if God forbid my kids were to have skin cancer, I would know that I did everything in my power and knowledge to alleviate that from happening, which is my responsibility as their parent. I just do not see how others cannot see the importance of it...I guess the old adage of 'you do not truly understand it unless you have experienced it' holds true.

melissa75, like many school staff you haven't even begun to ponder the reasons why suncream - though very important - has cascaded down the important list for some parents have you?

The fact that you made the link between the same 'bad apple' parents who don't fill out forms when you'd like and the ones who don't quite pull off the whole parenting thing in other ways is the whole reason I intensely dislike what I've read from you.

Now you're content you've done your own skin cancer prevention bit for your children perhaps you could dedicate some time to thinking how you could make things easier for someone else in your school who may be struggling to sort breakfast nevermind suncream.

Melissa, presumably something bad and sun-related has either happened to you or a family member. Bad things do happen and some of them may be a bit preventable but other people have different priorities and (depending on skin type as much as anything) sunburn is not the biggest risk to health that everyone faces (the biggest risk to children's wellbeing apart from domestic violence is cars).
So try and get a little bit of perspective before you do yourself an injury.

Why don't the playground supervisors ever wear sun hats? Talk about adults not modelling desired behaviour!

I notice secondary pupils (& their supervising adults) never wear hats in the sun either.

I guess fashion counts more than "health" one you're 12 (heehee).

once you're 12...

I do retract my statement of comparing parents who do not put sunscream on their kids to parents who do not return forms etc.. it was not a fair comparison, and for that I apologise....however, I will never understand why your childs health is not of your utmost priority??...if you cannot get breakfast sorted and put on the suncream and get all the morning routine going in good time, get up earlier! Its pretty simple is it not? I do not mean to sound facetious, but it just seems to be a very simple solution?

lljkk...noone is disagreeing with you! They are not setting a good example if they are not wearing sun protection! Most of our MDA's wear sunhats/sunglasses. Whether they have suncream on or not, I am not one to know. Obviously, one cannot force an adult to wear something they do not want to, but adults are old enough to make their own decsions and to understand the implications of those decisions...children do not understand those implications.

"sunburn is not the biggest risk to health that everyone faces"
I never once said sunburn was the biggest health risk...there are loads (unfortunately), however sunburns are a pretty big health issue in this day and age. SGB, you are comparing wellbeing to health...although in many ways they can intertangle with one another, in this case protecting your childs skin from the sun may be good for their wellbeing in the short term, but it is their longterm health that I am concerned with. Also, had you read all my posts SGB, you would see that yes, I have had a malignent melanoma personally, and it came as a result of sunburns as a child, because I was not properly protected...and I only wish now that I had been then, or that my parents had known the long term implications of sun exposure to save me from all the pain and heartache that cancer brings. And that's all I am trying to do now...but it seems that many others are not concerned about it, so be it.

At the end of the day, it is your child, and their health, and your family, so you make the decisions that you obviously feel are best for them...as we all do. I only just put this post on here to hope to get people to realise the utmost importance of sun protection whatever that may be...as it was generated by the obvious issue in my own class of some parents not taking sun protection seriously.

Sorry but I don't get the "won't wear a hat" thing in school age children. Toddlers fair enough but if they're old enough to be in school they're old enough to be told they have to wear a hat in the sun. Every primary school here (Australia) has a "no hat no play" policy, I have yet to meet a child who won't wear a hat (doesn't mean they have to like it )

The No Hat No Play policy would be fine by me, SunnyD. But our school DOESN'T have that policy.

That is your solution, really, Mellisa, just implement a no cream/no hat=NO PLAY policy. I make DC wear a hat on the beach, but I can't make them do things like that when they're out of sight at school.

You keep harping on about health as the overwhelmingly top priority (over mental well-being and safety, I suppose? ), but proper diet, plenty of sleep, toothbrushing not killing their siblings these and many other things are health issues, too. Most days I think I get 85% of it right and that means a ~15% unsatisfactory rate. I'm only human it's like teachers making grammar mistakes and typos on homework sheets and letters home (happens a LOT). Some people on MN moan and snigger about such errors which I find distasteful: obviously teachers are only human, too, eh?

I wear a large broad-brimmed hat most days if it's sunny. Only about 1% of other adults I see wear any type of hat when it's quite sunny.

Yes, I see that a new study tells us that being vegetarian cuts your risk of cancer by up to 50%. So I guess Melissa is also vegetarian.

"So I guess Melissa is also vegetarian"
I am vegetarian... are you being sarcastic...or rude? I cannot quite figure it out

"Mellisa, just implement a no cream/no hat=NO PLAY policy"...I have! If you had read my post earlier on, you would have seen this?

lljkk...I am not really sure whether your arguing with me or what?
I have never disagreed with your points, all I have ever said, and continue to do so, is I personally find it difficult to figure out how "your" childs (I use quotation, as I do not mean specifically your child(ren), I mean anyones child) health is not a top priority for any parent. Yes, many aspects of ones health are interrelated with many other things, as you have mentioned.
I asked you directly a few posts back whether you consider your childs health to be your top priority? I find the use of "harping on about health" to be demeaning and rude.

Of course we are all human, and we all make mistakes...there is no manual on what to do in every situation when raising your child...but I just have felt like I have been made to feel completely in the wrong by many responders to my thread for making the health of my own children (and with sun protection, the health of my pupils as well) my top priority. lljkk, your comments have come across as making me sound like I said I was perfect, or that I never make mistakes...please quote where I said this?

Of course mental well being and safety are high prioroties as well.
I, as I said, was only trying to flag up the importance of sun protection, as I know what the implications are twenty years down the road...if you disagree, then so be it.

Thank you, sunnydelight, I completely agree!

"Some people on MN moan and snigger about such errors -- which I find distasteful:"

So do I! Find it extremely demeaning as well.

Melissa would it be possible for your school to get a stock of sunhats to keep at school for children who don't have one ? I don't think it would be hard to find a business which would donate caps with their logo on ?
I wouldn't be too worried about suncraem as the most sensitive bits of their body are covered by a peaked or brimmed sunhat and their summer dresses or trousers/polo shirt .

katiestar...this was something that was spoken about, unfortunately you then run into the issue of head lice when children share hats, so it did not seem to be a feasible idea due to that factor. It may be an idea though to see if it is possible to have ones donated for children who, for whatever reason, do not have one, and then they could have it to keep. Will suggest it!