Our government and schools are NOT keeping our children safe from Skin Cancer and Melanoma
When you send your child to school each day you most likely take for granted that they will return home safe. But what would you think if you knew your child had a fifty per cent higher chance of developing skin cancer and Melanoma just by going to school? What would you do?
The laws in the USA prevent parents from sending sunscreen to schools with their children. They also prevent teachers from applying it on their students. This is problematic, especially in the early years when young children are unable to do this task themselves.
Children in the early school years, kindergarten-second grade, tend to be outside a lot. Outdoor recess and field trips that go to zoos, nature centers and parks. How many times has a child come home sunburned from one of these trips? As a parent, you're upset when it occurs but the sunburn fades and so does the anger....until the next time.
Would it fade if you knew that getting sunburned the first time increases your chances of getting skin cancer later in life by fifty percent? Would it fade if you knew that skin cancer is the second leading type of cancer among teenagers? Your odds of developing skin cancer in your lifetime are already one in five...twenty percent. Why would you do anything to make it worse?
The NBCNews story below shows how few state governments allow sunscreen in schools because of FDA regulations and what many states are trying to do about this. It's an important story and it's important that everyone, not just parents, knows about this. You trust that the government and schools will take care of your children and keep them healthy. Allowing sunscreen in schools and letting teachers help with applying it will help to do that.
This is last Monday's post about Melanoma Monday.
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