I don't understand the world anymore.

[katietornado]

I graduated high school in 2001 and things weren't like this even then. WTMF is going on now? Those of you with kids, are your school districts like this? I was at Target the other day and saw "school-friendly" granola bars that didn't contain dairy or nuts, to comply with allergy policies. I feel like an old lady talking about "back in my day," but seriously...WTF? Kids aren't even allowed to put sunblock on THEMSELVES anymore?

Sunburned Kids at School: Who's to Blame?

It was raining when her children left for school on Tuesday, so Jesse Michener did not slather them in sunscreen, even though she knew they'd be outdoors for field day later that afternoon. But the sun came out around noon and, when the kids came home, two of them were so severely sunburned that they had to go to the hospital.

"We've never done a field day at the school before," Michener told Yahoo! Shine in an interview on Thursday. "They were outside for over five hours."

A freelance photographer, she posted pictures and described her daughter's sunburns on her blog. "Two of my three children experienced significant sunburns. Like, hurts-to-look-at burns," Michener wrote. "Violet is starting to blister on her face." Both Violet, 11, and her sister, Zoe, 9, "have headaches, chills and pain" and had to stay home from school the next day. (Her youngest daughter, 7-year-old Eleanor, was also sunburned, but not badly.) The girls did not stay overnight at the hospital, and Michener said they are being treated at home with cool baths and over-the-counter pain medications.

Related: CDC says half of young adults get sunburned

To make matters worse, Zoe, has a form of Albinism -- and teachers and staff at Point Defiance Elementary School were aware of her extreme sensitivity to the sun. She even has a written agreement -- a 504 plan -- with the school because of it. And yet, teachers refused to send the girls indoors or allow them to apply sunscreen themselves, according to her mom.

"My children indicated that several adults commented on their burns at school, including staff and other parents," Michener wrote on her blog. "One of my children remarked that their teacher used sunscreen in her presence and that it was 'just for her.' So, is this an issue of passive, inactive supervision? Where is the collective awareness for student safety?"

Tacoma Public School district spokesman Dan Voelpel told Yahoo! Shine that the school district's sunscreen policy -- which forbids teachers from applying sunscreen to students, and only allows students to apply it to their own bodies if they have a doctor's note authorizing it -- is based on a statewide law.

"Our policy follows the state law which allows district to establish the rules for how medications, both over-the-counter and prescription medication, is handled in the school," he said. "Our policy is that any of that medication requires a doctor's order for kids to take it at school. This is really to protect other students who could be exposed to various medications that they could be allergic to." The federal Food and Drug Administration considers sunscreen to be an over-the-counter medication.

While Michener says that she takes full responsibility for not making them put on sunscreen before bringing them to school that day -- none of her kids have ever come home from school with sunburns before, she notes. She also points out that teachers had other options besides breaking the law: They could have sent the girls indoors when they noticed the burns getting bad, or called Michener and asked her to come to school and put sunscreen on them herself. (The FDA suggests that sunscreen be reapplied every two hours.)

"Something as simple as a sun hat might seem to bypass the prescription issue to some extent," she wrote. "Alas, hats are not allowed at school, even on field day."

"It was an exceptional day, with exceptional inability to serve these kids," she told Yahoo! Shine.

Michener is asking the school district to consider crafting a more "parent-friendly" policy on sunscreens, one that would allow parents to sign a waiver giving teachers permission to apply sunscreen while at school, or one that would allow teachers to act in their students' best interests. Voelpel told Yahoo! Shine that there currently is not a procedure in place for parents who have trouble getting a doctor's note, but "We periodically review our policies as situations change," he said. "I can't say whether this one will be revised based on this case."

Michener says that her daughters' sunburns are really part of a larger problem.

"My biggest beef is that teachers are not able to make good decisions about kids safety," she said. "Fear of litigation is preventing us from living our lives and taking care of our kids."

[Deleted]

apply sun screen could be like helping a boy lather in the shower....

[Deleted]

in all seriousness every school says apply sunscreen before or makes us sign a permission slip to apply sunscreen.

I know some people who adamantly won't use sunscreen because of the chemicals in it.

I went to my son's school at lunch time to apply sunscreen on field day since I knew it was useless to apply it at 8am since they weren't going out until noon.

[wawa]

They can't apply SUNSCREEN?
We weren't allowed to take OTC meds when I was in school (same years as you katie), but since when is sunscreen an OTC med? Girls put on makeup in the school bathroom all the time...what if it has an SPF?

Also, we were allowed to wear hats on field day. No other days, but on field day it was ok.

I'm REALLY tired of this CYA/zero tolerance mentality trumping common sense.

Although my mom ignored the OTC med rules because I had(and have) chronic headaches and joint pain. She just sent me with a couple of advil in a ziplock and told me not to get caught.

[wawa]

Jun 22, 2012 7:00:17 GMT -5 @septimus said:

in all seriousness every school says apply sunscreen before or makes us sign a permission slip to apply sunscreen.

I know some people who adamantly won't use sunscreen because of the chemicals in it.

I went to my son's school at lunch time to apply sunscreen on field day since I knew it was useless to apply it at 8am since they weren't going out until noon.

I can get on board with teachers not applying it for them, but a 10 year old kid can put on their own damn sunscreen and there shouldn't be a rule forbidding that.

[Melissa W.]

Jun 22, 2012 7:00:17 GMT -5 @septimus said:

in all seriousness every school says apply sunscreen before or makes us sign a permission slip to apply sunscreen.

I know some people who adamantly won't use sunscreen because of the chemicals in it.

I went to my son's school at lunch time to apply sunscreen on field day since I knew it was useless to apply it at 8am since they weren't going out until noon.

This.

My girls are so fair. I sent sunscreen with the permission slip in April to make sure they had it.

[IIOY]

The last sentence of the article says it all.

With that said, who sends their sun-sensitive child on an outdoor field trip without applying sunscreen? You need protection even on cloudy days - the mother should have known this. My kids are fair-skinned and I use sunscreen like its going out of style. This isn't rocket science.

[Deleted]

Jun 22, 2012 7:14:35 GMT -5 IIOY said:

The last sentence of the article says it all.

With that said, who sends their sun-sensitive child on an outdoor field trip without applying sunscreen? You need protection even on cloudy days - the mother should have known this. My kids are fair-skinned and I use sunscreen like its going out of style. This isn't rocket science.

This is what I think. Yes the rule is kind of dumb and yes the school
Could have sent the kids inside etc.

But you know what? When I took care of my nephew and took him to camp/daycare every day, I put sunscreen on him every.damn.day, cloudy, rainy, indoor field trip planned, whatever. It was just part of our routine (he is very fair skinned.) I'm not sure this mother's own common sense is the best out there. She knew the kids were going to be outside. She just thought bc it was cloudy it wasn't a big deal.

To me this story shows the intersection between poor judgment on one hand and a pretty dumb rule on the other, with the kids hurt in the middle.

[Deleted]

This says it all to me:

While Michener says that she takes full responsibility for not making them put on sunscreen before bringing them to school that day --

If her kid has a condition leaving her sensitive to the sun, wouldn't you always put sunscreen on in the morning. I don't blame the school at all for having this kind of policy. I could see how you could have parents bent out of shape for a teacher putting their hands on their child. And incidentally, this is neither here nor there, but I don't remember ever having to put sunscreen on for field day or for going outside when I was in school. How times change.

[wawa]

Huh...I read it that it was raining so she assumed they'd be inside for a couple of hours. Since sunscreen needs to be reapplied every few hours she just sent them with a bottle thinking they would put it on there.

Which was dumb if the policy was made clear before, but just putting sunscreen on first thing in the AM isn't going to get you through an entire day of sun without a burn anyway.

I'm willing to sign off that this mom is pretty dim (frankly, shouldn't a sun sensitive kid be wearing sunscreen every single day - field day or not?) but I still think lumping sunscreen in with every other OTC med for this policy is ridiculous, regardless of how the FDA classifies it.

But I also think that parent's signature alone should be enough to send a grown ass kid to school with basic OTC meds beyond sunscreen, so clearly I'm a crazy person.

[dev22]

I totally agree with you Wawa, so I must be nuts too

[osulori]

Jun 22, 2012 8:04:31 GMT -5 @mrdobalina said:

If they kid is on a 504 that's a big deal, and the school let the parent down. 504 is a special medical need, and you'd better be damn sure you're watching out for those kiddos. And a sunscreen issue is SO.Damn.EASY to resolve. The teachers really let the kiddos down. BUT the mom should have been calling/dropping by.

If the 504 didn't have a specific stipulation related to protection from the sun whether it be sunscreen application or going indoors after a certain amount of time (which I don't think the article said if there was such a stipulation, so please correct me if I'm wrong), then the fact that the kid has a 504 in place doesn't really have anything to do with this situation...though I'm guessing there probably is something in the 504 addressing issues related to the albinism dx if the author saw fit to mention it.

From what I read of the article, it sounds like the ball was dropped by more than one person/entity but it sucks that the school is hiding behind the state law (which I think is a little ridiculous) and most of all that the kids are the ones who have to suffer. I think the last quote from the mom sums it up perfectly.

[BNL2]

There's no reason why wearing a hat and use of sunscreen couldn't be in a 504 plan. I'm assuming it wasn't since the child got burned, but that would be the easiest and quickest fix for that particular student. I don't understand why they wouldn't send the students in though. That was just plain dumb.

In my district teachers won't apply sunscreen, but the students can apply it to themselves. I didn't see any crazy burns on field day, so I guess the kids are pretty good at it.

[brit1017]

Jun 22, 2012 6:54:55 GMT -5 katietornado said:

Michener says that her daughters' sunburns are really part of a larger problem.

"My biggest beef is that teachers are not able to make good decisions about kids safety," she said. "Fear of litigation is preventing us from living our lives and taking care of our kids."

This line summed up the problem for me. There are so many rules and procedures (not just in the teaching field, it affects most industries) that common sense has taken a backseat.

[curmudgeon]

Team Wawa.

And also, this is a school fail, not a mom fail. Kid had a medical order in place and the teachers didn't bother to call mom when kiddos were burning. Clearly she thought they would be able to apply sunscreen since she went to the trouble of sending it. Between the FDA recommendation that it be reapplied every two hours and the rules that no one but a parent can apply it = major common sense fail (on part of the state, not necessarily the school).

[Deleted]

bumping for Umaineteach

[taratru]

oh shit...they blew a 504 plan? Oops.

But I COMPLETELY agree with the last sentence here. Completely and totally. I hope this mom doesn't sue to actually support that statement.

[UMaineTeach]

thanks septimus
the title and the hover preview weren't telling the whole story

I applied sunscreen to kids, but each of them had a signed note saying the exact type to be used and the parents provided it if they didn't want the house brand. It was the one area where my CYA center relaxed the 'need a dr. note for OTC meds' policy.

not allowing hats or shade is silly 504 or not

[meshaliuknits]

Jun 22, 2012 7:54:24 GMT -5 pennypenny said:

Jun 22, 2012 7:50:39 GMT -5 dev22 said:

I totally agree with you Wawa, so I must be nuts too

I'll sit with both of you.

*sits with cool kids*

[earlgreyhot]

Jun 22, 2012 8:41:33 GMT -5 brit1017 said:

Jun 22, 2012 6:54:55 GMT -5 katietornado said:

Michener says that her daughters' sunburns are really part of a larger problem.

"My biggest beef is that teachers are not able to make good decisions about kids safety," she said. "Fear of litigation is preventing us from living our lives and taking care of our kids."

This line summed up the problem for me. There are so many rules and procedures (not just in the teaching field, it affects most industries) that common sense has taken a backseat.

I agree with this. The mom, who I am not assuming was "dim", made a mistake in judgement. It's should have been an easily correctable mistake but was not due to rules that may seem logical and protective when written. There was ultimately a failure on both counts.

[meg]

even if the mom had put sunscreen on them at 8am the kids would still not have been amply protected for the whole day.

The sunscreen policy is ridiculous and hats? really? But even wtih all that I dont understand why they didnt bring kids who were getting burned inside. If someone was getting ill from the heat (heatstroke or exhaustion) they would bring them in right? Why wouldnt this be treated differently? I think some people tend to underplay sunburns but they can be quite serious.

[BNL2]

The no hats rule is an example of how districts make policies for all students based on problems concerning few students. It's my understanding that no hat policies come from fears of baseball caps possibly being gang related and the slight chance of students cheating by placing answers on the lid. So instead of writing a simple rule that states no hats in the classroom, admins ban them completely from school district wide. No one stops to say that hats aren't a problem in elementary schools or states the obvious about using hats for sun protection. This incident will likely result in the district lifting the ban and telling teachers they can't ask a student to remove their hat in the classroom. It's like district admins can only write all or nothing policies.

[msmerymac]

Jun 22, 2012 7:14:35 GMT -5 IIOY said:

The last sentence of the article says it all.

With that said, who sends their sun-sensitive child on an outdoor field trip without applying sunscreen? You need protection even on cloudy days - the mother should have known this. My kids are fair-skinned and I use sunscreen like its going out of style. This isn't rocket science.

I wonder why the kid with the 504 didn't have a tube of sunscreen she kept at the nurse's office. Easy solution.

[UMaineTeach]

Jun 22, 2012 12:16:31 GMT -5 BNL2 said:

It's my understanding that no hat policies come from fears of baseball caps possibly being gang related and the slight chance of students cheating by placing answers on the lid.

I thought that the no hats rules came from the days when wearing a hat inside was disrespectful.
I still tend to think that hats (disregarding fast food workers, construction workers, doctors in surgery, religious head coverings ect.) should not be worn inside.

[pescalita]

Jun 22, 2012 7:00:34 GMT -5 wawa said:

I'm REALLY tired of this CYA/zero tolerance mentality trumping common sense.

This is only tangentially related, but I got really hot about this WRT Tylenol at 9pm one night after A's shots.

There are new dosing instructions on Tylenol. My doc (family practice, not a pedi) took a look for them and couldn't find them right away, so he said just follow what's on the bottle and go by the weight limits not age. Fine, nbd. Fast forward to that evening, A is so uncomfortable he can't nurse to sleep. So we whip out the Tylenol, and on the bottle it says "under 2 yrs, ask your doctor". For fucking reals? You mean the only medication a kid under 6 mos can have, and you think there's some fucking magic my doctor has that he knows better than the FDA approved dosage? It took us a few minutes to google, but we found the instructions, which was a hell of a lot less time than it would have taken to call the office, leave a message, and have the on call doc look it up and call us back. And there's absolutely NO reason to go through all of that, take up a doc's time, and have my child in pain while we wait, other than Tylenol/McNeil CYA. No wonder healthcare is so fucking expensive when a routine fever requires an on call doc at 2am.

[BNL2]

Jun 22, 2012 12:33:12 GMT -5 UMaineTeach said:

Jun 22, 2012 12:16:31 GMT -5 BNL2 said:

It's my understanding that no hat policies come from fears of baseball caps possibly being gang related and the slight chance of students cheating by placing answers on the lid.

I thought that the no hats rules came from the days when wearing a hat inside was disrespectful.
I still tend to think that hats (disregarding fast food workers, construction workers, doctors in surgery, religious head coverings ect.) should not be worn inside.

The reasons I've heard are gangs and cheating concerns are what sparked the written policy. I think for generations the simple fact that is was disrespectful is what kept most hats out of the classrooms but it wasn't a written policy. At least in my district, the no hat rule has just been in place a few years. My only complaint about it is that the policy seems unnecessary in the lower grades and it tends to make an issue out of a non issue, as it did in this instance. Oh, and I completely agree with you about hats not being worn inside at all.

[meshaliuknits]

Jun 22, 2012 12:40:31 GMT -5 pescalita said:

Jun 22, 2012 7:00:34 GMT -5 wawa said:

I'm REALLY tired of this CYA/zero tolerance mentality trumping common sense.

This is only tangentially related, but I got really hot about this WRT Tylenol at 9pm one night after A's shots.

There are new dosing instructions on Tylenol. My doc (family practice, not a pedi) took a look for them and couldn't find them right away, so he said just follow what's on the bottle and go by the weight limits not age. Fine, nbd. Fast forward to that evening, A is so uncomfortable he can't nurse to sleep. So we whip out the Tylenol, and on the bottle it says "under 2 yrs, ask your doctor". For fucking reals? You mean the only medication a kid under 6 mos can have, and you think there's some fucking magic my doctor has that he knows better than the FDA approved dosage? It took us a few minutes to google, but we found the instructions, which was a hell of a lot less time than it would have taken to call the office, leave a message, and have the on call doc look it up and call us back. And there's absolutely NO reason to go through all of that, take up a doc's time, and have my child in pain while we wait, other than Tylenol/McNeil CYA. No wonder healthcare is so fucking expensive when a routine fever requires an on call doc at 2am.

That blows.

Our pedi sent us home with a 'baby book' that has dosing instructions for different OTC, fever conversion charts for location, info on common illnesses & when they need a Dr, and their night number. It's all kinds of awesome.