UK schools need 'sun safety policy'

15th July 2011 - Schoolchildren in the UK are being put at risk of sunburn because schools do not do enough to protect them from the effects of the sun and are failing to teach them about the dangers of UV radiation, a charity campaigner says.

Richard Clifford, Chairman of Skin Cancer UK, says that we all need a bit of sunshine to improve our wellbeing and help our bodies make vitamin D, but that too much sun during school sport, breaks and lunchtime is putting children's health at risk.

40% sunburnt

Clifford tells us that the charity commissioned pollsters to find out the extent of the problem. "They took a questionnaire out to a thousand parents in May and not surprisingly the result was that four out of 10 said 'our children have come back with sunburn'," he says.

A history of sunburn doubles the risk of developing malignant melanoma, the most serious form of skin cancer. In 2008, around 11,770 cases of malignant melanoma were diagnosed in the UK. Although it is more common with increasing age, the disease is disproportionately high in younger people.

Non-mandatory policy

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence encourages schools to adopt a sun safety policy, which it says should include education about the causes of skin cancer and how to protect the skin by using sunscreens, covering up and seeking shade.

However, Clifford believes this is inadequate. "There is nothing mandatory in relation to teachers conveying information to their pupils about the dangers of ever-exposure to UV," he says. "They do it purely out of choice if they wish to do so, just as they will slap on some sun cream on a child if a parent particularly requests it.

"The vast majority, however, won't do that sort of thing because of the 'touching' - and the obvious problems surrounding that - and because of the time factor."

Clifford agrees that these are valid arguments, but says the charity is trying to persuade school governors and head teachers that they should set up a system to supervise sun cream application, either by getting parents to help or by making sure children apply the cream themselves.

Sunshine on the curriculum

In the longer term, he wants to see sun safety become part of the health and wellbeing curriculum taught in class.

He says the attitude to teaching youngsters how to stay safe in the sun is very different in Australia than it is in the UK where 75% of Australian schools have UV awareness taught. That figure rises to 95% in the state of Victoria. "They really do know what they're doing," says Clifford. "They refer to their mass media campaigns as a blue-chip investment in public health because in the long term it's saving the health department millions."

Sun protection packs

Cancer Research UK has produced a sun protection pack to help primary schools develop a sun protection policy. The charity recommends that children should be allowed to bring sunscreen of at least SPF 15 with four or five stars into school and be supervised while applying it.

Dr Claire Knight, health information officer at Cancer Research UK, says in a statement: "It’s important that children are protected from sunburn while at school. Children have delicate skin and getting sunburnt as a child increases the risk of skin cancer later in life."