Look out across most primary schools in Sydney and you’ll see kids dressed to battle with the sun. Thanks to motivated Parents & Citizens (P&C) groups and the support of teachers our little Johnnies have never been better protected from the sun’s harmful rays. Trendy but ineffective caps have been replaced by broad brimmed hats; light breathable long sleeves have replaced short sleeve shirts and of course there’s plenty of sunscreen available when kids need it. Playgrounds too are now often shaded with expensive shade cloth sails and even the barren, sun parched assembly areas now have permanent roofing to keep sun off our kids while they play or listen to those tiring speeches.
So it would seem that the message is getting through and parents and schools are taking notice: kids need protection from the sun and shouldn’t be exposed to harmful rays especially during peak periods of the day.
Except the news in the larger community isn’t so encouraging with the latest press saying skin cancer is on the rise in our hospitals.
“Cancer Council Australia chief executive officer Professor Sanchia Aranda says there has been a 63 per cent increase in melanoma hospitalisations in the past 11 years and 39 per cent for non-melanoma hospital visits” (The Leader 14th June 2016)
It seems those of us over 40 have given up or ignored the dangers of too much sun exposure, leaving any new protective trends to the children and youth behind us.
However you’d be giving yourself a false sense of confidence if you thought the battle was won in primary school. Vanity mocks the good work we’re doing with our kids to protect them from the sun as soon as they step into a high school.
You see, once little Johnnie turns 12, he leaves your tight grasp into the land of Nod where P&C groups barely exist or if they do they are poorly represented and schools it seem, take little notice. You can forget the hat, long sleeves, sun screen and shade sails. It’s High School and ‘loco parentis’ (in the place of the parent) does not appear to include teachers worrying about such trivial matters as preventable cancer.
Parents and teachers work so hard to protect their kids in primary school but it feels like we all have amnesia as soon as they enter the high school gate. What was all the fuss about hats and sunscreen?
But with the rise of skin cancer statistics…shouldn’t we at least revisit this subject in high schools? Surely an awareness campaign should be developed and promoted for high schools? Surely high schools should have a sun aware policy. Couldn’t schools design hats the kids like and enforce their use throughout high school where practicable? Why have we dropped the ball so dramatically in high school?
Who wants some melanoma then eh? Melanoma calls aloud from the high school gate near you…but how can we help our kids listen to wisdom? “…those that hate knowledge…will eat the fruit of their ways” (Proverbs 1:20-22). Vanity, Vanity. All is vanity (Ecclesiastes).Sigh.
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