Schools Banning Sunscreen, Even On Sun-Filled Field Trips
When Jesse Michener, a mother in Tacoma, Wash., witnessed her 11 and 9 year old daughters return from a field trip with severe sunburns she blogged about the event, pointing out that her children’s school had banned sunscreen.
It turns out that many schools throughout the United States do not allow sunscreen lotion because it is considered an over-the-counter drug and school policies often limit such drugs from regular use.
In Michener’s case her daughter’s school officials have promised to change the sunscreen policy by Fall but only because a new state law has given schools new leeway in how they handle over-the-counter drugs.
The sunscreen issue has become so bad that Jeff Ashley, a California dermatologist leads the advocacy group Sun Safety for Kids, an organization bent on changing sunscreen policies for young children so schools no longer treat the substance as if it was aspirin.
One of the biggest problems with sunscreen laws is that they change from state to state, city to city and even district to district, causing a national problem that is hard to pinpoint and even harder to fix with a broad stroke of legislation.
Do you think children should be given sunscreen on sun-filled field trips?
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About the Author
James Johnson James is a new media professional with more than half a decade worth of experience in the online writing space. He currently serves as the Associate Editor of Inquisitr.com and the Editor-in-Chief of SocialNewsDaily.com. He also serves as a resident writer for Splash Press Media. In his spare time James consults businesses regarding SEO and Content Development.
