My son has vitiligo, and also burns quite easily on the spots where he has no pigmentation. At the beginning of every school year, his doctor supplies the correct paper work and I send a bottle of sunscreen to school.
We also apply sunscreen every morning, every day. It is a habit. Overcast or not. As a parent with a child who burns easily it is MY job to educate myself, overcast days do not protect from UV rays. I am pro-active, and I make sure my son will not burn.
When he goes to a friends, sunscreen is with him. It's not hard to do any of this, it just needs to be a priority and habit.
In my opinion, this mother should have asked the school's policy at the beginning of the year, or during registration, and then there would have never been a problem.
2nd Degree Sunburn When School Requires Doctor's Note for Sunscreen: Blame School?
Fef
2012/06/25 22:48:19
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Schools have to cover themselves from over-litigious parents. However, sometimes over-protecting students can lead to under-protecting them. Consider this case of a two girls Violet, 11, and Zoe, 9, in Tacoma, Washington. The girls suffer from a form of albinism and require sunscreen lotion when going in the sun. The school, however, requires a doctor's note for sunscreen. Who deserves the blame for the girls suffering 2nd degree sunburns.
FoxNews.com reports:
FoxNews.com reports:
A Tacoma, Wash., mom is seeing red after her fair-skinned daughters returned home from school severely sunburned. Michener says she did not give the girls sunscreen because it appeared to be an overcast day, but says that school officials should have been able to let them apply sunscreen when the sun came out--especially since both Violet, 11, and Zoe, 9, suffer from a form of albinism.
Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/health/2012/06/25/sisters-suffer-sever...
Read More: http://www.foxnews.com/health/2012/06/25/sisters-s...
Top Opinion
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Deliciously Melicious 2012/06/26 01:06:21
I do not understand why you want parents to give up responsibilities to the schools. Schools are supposed to educate NOT be a kid's Mommy and Daddy. Now, you want the schools to be Doctor, as well.
You can't change the laws to suit your purposes. It was parents and suing society which made it so difficult for schools to allow a child a medication--which stupid as it might seem, sunscreen is classed as a medication. There is no middle ground here. You're talking about people who would lose their jobs and careers/certification if they did what you're suggesting and even a small adverse reaction happened.
Ultimately, you say that logic should rule. Ultimately, logic says that no parent wants the school to take over their job. On this, parents have sued time and time again, even on such things as when schools recommend retention, but a parent doesn't want it. You can't tie a schools figurative hands behind it's back and then bitch that the didn't catch the ball, which is what you're doing. They took away logic and made it AGAINST THE LAW, but still, you want to blame the school.
BTW, it your attitude is one of the reasons schools can't apply sunscreen. You want them to do it, but you also blame them if something happens if they do.
We also apply sunscreen every morning, every day. It is a habit. Overcast or not. As a parent with a child who burns easily it is MY job to educate myself, overcast days do not protect from UV rays. I am pro-active, and I make sure my son will not burn.
When he goes to a friends, sunscreen is with him. It's not hard to do any of this, it just needs to be a priority and habit.
In my opinion, this mother should have asked the school's policy at the beginning of the year, or during registration, and then there would have never been a problem.
This year for field day, we were told weeks in advance, flyers sent home every week, telling us it was coming, telling us what the kids could wear, telling us to apply sunscreen before school....
Like I said, if your child has a condition, any condition, you educate yourself and then you make sure they are taken care, if this means getting a doctors note, you get one, if it means doing it before school, you do it before school.
This mother was a total idiot and instead of going to the media about the school, should have a neglect complaint against her for not doing HER job!!!
I think there are too many lawyers and too many people with less common sense than God gave a gnat.
as a school nurse...I would have called the parent and requested them to bring in sunscreen, or apply...etc....
parent hold primary responsibility...
Let's not take responsibility for our own actions or for our own children...LET'S BLAME THE SCHOOLS INSTEAD! Does anyone else see something wrong with this?