School Districts
Board Policy
If the school district has adopted policy on sun protection issues, that policy can and should be implemented in the district’s schools. Where there is no written district policy, and no specifically prohibitory policy, schools are generally allowed reasonable discretion to establish their own, usually as standard operating procedure (SOP). In case your district or school is lacking in sun safety policy, excellent specific recommendations are itemized in the CDC Guidelines.1
In 2006, Sun Safety for Kids was pleased to collaborate with attorneys from the California School Boards Association to develop the CSBA Sample Board Policy for Sun Safety.4 The Association simultaneously published an accompanying CSBA Policy Brief5 to provide explanatory detail about the various elements of sun safety policy. These two documents provide an excellent framework for any school district considering the adoption of a comprehensive sun safety policy.
At a minimum, any existing policy-based barriers to personal sun protection should be eliminated. For example, in case there is a blanket prohibition against hats, or against sunscreen, these should be repealed.
Encouragement
Merely having a policy to permit sun protection does not ensure that anyone will take notice or that the policy will be followed. Most district governing boards are disinclined to make sun protection a requirement, so effective communication of the sun safety policy to the district’s schools is necessary. Some degree of support, encouragement, or incentive might also be required in order to achieve measurable improvement in children’s sun-protective behavior.
Communication
Cooperation from parents will be key to the success of any sun safety program. Inform parents about the school’s sun safety policy and give them tips on how they can contribute and participate.
Teachers and other school personnel often are unaware that a sun safety policy has been adopted and are still acting according to old prohibitions. Ensure that all staff members are informed and asked to help by role-modeling and by encouraging sun-protective behaviors by students.
Elements of Sun Protection
Hats, sunscreen, and shade are perhaps the items of greatest interest to school policy makers. Refer to our Sun Protection Section for additional details on each individual sun protection item.
Hats
There is no legitimate excuse for banning all hats at school because this disallows sun-protective hats. The California sun safety law gives children the right to wear a hat at school, but also sensibly gives schools the discretion to define or limit the type of hat that is allowable. At schools where uniforms are required, the uniform should include a sun-protective hat. (In Australia, where most elementary schools require uniforms, a uniform hat is included. The students are restricted from playing outdoors unless they are wearing their hat.) In the U.S., most schools do not require uniforms or hats. However, simply declaring hats to be allowable (with no encouragement or incentive) typically results in very few students wearing them. Sstudents are inhibited, fearing they might be judged negatively by their peers. Check our unique Hats Program for suggestions on ways to overcome this challenge by creating an incentive to wear a hat.
Sunscreen
Evidently sunscreen wasn’t on their radar when many schools adopted a “no drugs” policy. Sunscreen is regulated by the FDA as an over-the-counter (OTC) drug, not because it’s considered dangerous, but because the government feels it’s important to ensure that it’s safe and effective. Unless permissive state legislation has already been passed, the first, and very necessary, challenge is for all districts or schools to adopt and implement written policy to specifically exclude sunscreen from any all-encompassing disallowance of drugs. The arguments we’ve heard in opposition to permitting sunscreen use at school, such as fear of serious allergic reaction, are not justifiable. In rare cases, an individual can develop the rash of allergic contact dermatitis from a sunscreen ingredient but this type of allergy is in a completely different class, and far less serious, compared to immediate hypersensitivity reactions caused by things like peanut allergy. If a school were to require sunscreen use and make it freely available (improbable as that may be) an allergic individual could simply bring their well tolerated product from home and use that instead. A legitimate hesitation comes from teachers who do not feel comfortable, or who might fear being accused of inappropriate touching, associated with directly applying sunscreen to young children. However, there are other teachers who are happy to monitor and assist with sunscreen application as needed, so long as the child’s parent has returned a signed permission slip. While hands-on assistance should not be required, it certainly should be allowed with parental informed consent.
As with hats, merely allowing sunscreen does not ensure that it will be used. Tips for encouraging its use are provided on our Sunscreen page.
Shade
If there is any existing shade on the school campus, allow and encourage students to benefit from it. Consider whether new or additional shade trees could be added. Outdoor areas where students are directed to eat lunch or congregate for more than a few minutes should certainly be located in the shade or covered by a shade structure. Shade structures are commonly installed to cover outdoor play equipment at elementary schools. We do endorse this, however, these structures can be very expensive. The same children who play on the shaded equipment may also venture into open areas during the same play period. The shade structure does not follow them around. We suggest a cost-benefit analysis. If funding is limited, you might find that more students would be better protected for less cost by providing tools and incentive programs (e.g., hats, long clothing, sunscreen) that improve personal sun-protective behavior. Of course, if affordable, it would be ideal to have it all.
UV Index
The UV Index is a forecast indicating the strength of the sun’s skin-damaging ultraviolet radiation on a given day. The higher the value, the faster a person’s skin will be harmed. While we can tell if the weather is hot or cold, or whether it’s pouring rain or just a drizzle, we humans cannot sense the level of UV radiation. It can be deceptively high on a cool Spring day. Make it a routine to announce the UV Index level along with other school announcements, especially from March through November or whenever the level is 6 or higher in your zip code. Just as you might remind students to “bundle up” on a very cold day, a simple sun safety tip such as “don’t forget to wear your hat” could accompany the UV Index announcement when the level has jumped up. Visit the UV Index page on the US EPA website for more information and to download the app for checking the index level in your area.
Don't Fry Day
The Friday before Memorial Day has been designated “Don’t Fry Day” by the National Council on Skin Cancer Prevention. This particular Friday, the traditional kickoff to the summer season, is an ideal time to remind everyone to protect against frying their skin. Unfortunately, this date comes too late on the calendar for observance at many schools. A highly recommended alternative date, when the UV Index is seriously rising, is the first day of spring.
Scheduling
The intensity of harmful UV radiation varies with the time of day, reaching its maximum at solar noon. When possible, try to schedule children’s outdoor activities to take place before 10 a.m. or after 4 p.m. Between 10 and 4, perhaps there’s an option for indoor activities, such as in the gym, or in shaded areas. Try to avoid directing students to sit or stand in direct sun for a drill, assembly, or class if there is any option to assemble in a shaded area instead.
Classroom Instruction
Sun Safety for Kids and the CDC each highly recommends the inclusion of age-appropriate instruction on sun safety at each grade level. For secondary as well as primary schools in select areas, we offer our UV&Me program through which medical students come to your school to give a sun safety presentation. We also offer our two videos, The Sun Show for Ages 6-8 and for Ages 9-11. Sunny Days Healthy Ways is an evidence-based sun safety curriculum for grades K-5. Sunwise, created by the U.S. EPA, is an educational program for K-8 offering a free tool kit for parents and teachers. The Sunwise program is currently managed by the National Environmental Education Foundation.
UV&Me
Medical students at most universities are encouraged to participate in “service learning” which entails taking the knowledge they’ve acquired in medical school and applying it to volunteer community service. Sun Safety for Kids, as a nonprofit organization, provides an excellent service learning opportunity through our UV&Me program. We support medical students who volunteer to visit a school classroom where they deliver a presentation to teach and motivate the students (of any grade level) to respect the damaging potential of the sun’s UV radiation, and to protect their skin in order to prevent skin cancer. This program is particularly well suited for middle and high school classrooms where the medical student presenters are natural influencers due to their close proximity in age to the class members. For details, visit our website at UV&Me.org.
Spirit Wear
When a school sells or provides personal use items branded with the school name and/or mascot it typically consists of a baseball cap and tee shirt. Consider revising or adding to the catalog with one or more items that are sun-protective. See our Elements section for ideas that could provide students with the benefit of a little sun protection while they show their school pride.
PTA
The Parent or Parent-Teacher Association can be a very important ally in the endeavor to improve sun safety in the school. Parents can be asked to volunteer for sun safety awareness events and the association or its nonprofit affiliate can raise money for sun safety products (hats, sunscreen, etc.) and improvements.
Employees
At school, teachers are role models or “social influencers” for the students. It can send a strongly positive signal if teachers are seen to be wearing a hat or wide visor, long clothing, and applying sunscreen for outdoor activities in the presence of students. School administrators can:
(a.) encourage all staff to model personal sun protection
(b.) consider whether there is an occupational safety concern around skin cancer prevention if staff members are required to perform certain duties outdoors.
References
1. Guidelines for School Programs to Prevent Skin Cancer. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Online at https://www.cde.ca.gov/ls/fa/re/documents/safeschools.pdf
2. Safe Schools Foster Improved Student Learning. California Department of Education. Online at https://www.cde.ca.gov/ls/fa/re/documents/safeschools.pdf
3. 14th Report on Carcinogens. National Toxicology Program, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. https://ntp.niehs.nih.gov/whatwestudy/assessments/cancer/roc/index.html#:~:text=The%20Report%20on%20Carcinogens%20is,to%20cause%20cancer%20in%20humans.
4. CSBA Sample Board Policy, Students, Sun Safety, BP 5141.7(a). California Schools Boards Association. https://www.csba.org/Services/Services/PolicyServices/~/media/Files/Services/PolicyServices/SamplePolicies/SunSafetyBP.ashx
5. Sun Safety in Schools. Governance & Policy Services, Policy Briefs (July, 2006). California School Boards Association. https://www.csba.org/GovernanceAndPolicyResources/DistrictPolicyServices/~/media/CSBA/Files/GovernanceResources/PolicyNews_Briefs/StudentHealth/SunSafety/2006_07_PolicyBrief_SunSafetyInschools.ashx
