I am a parent of very fair-skinned (blonde, blue-eye) children in
elementary school. (Grades K to 5). I was required to get a medical
note which stated that my children needed to wear hats to protect them
from the sun, at recess play and all outdoor activities, as the school
has a "no-hats" policy. (Something about "gangs" and something about
"lice" was cited as reasons.) I want to submit a proposal to the
school that sun protection be taught by the same methods that they
teach "sexual abuse" awareness and "recreational drugs and smoking"
awareness and "reading daily" awareness.  I firmly beleive that if
children are taught sun protection habits at a young age, they more
readily accept them, similar to wearing seatbelts.  Please write a
brief proposal/plan to implement a "sun protection awareness"
campaign.  Less than 300 words should suffice. It should include a
brief introductory paragraph similar to an executive summary.  It
should include some statistics (with url references) related to sun
protection for this age group of age 5 to 10.  Location of school is
in Atlanta, Georgia, USA suburbs.  So some correlation to this
longitude/latitude would be great.  I am aware that Australia has a
law requiring schoolchildren to wear hats outdoors.  I am aware that
some schools in California changed their "no-hats" policy after a
parent successfully sued the school system because a child died from a
malignant skin cancer.  These are good examples to cite.  I like to
see bulleted points in introductory plans/proposals.

According to the US Environmental Protection Agency's website, people
get 80% of their sun exposure by the time they are 18. It imperative
that children's exposure to the sun is limited in the first 10 to 20
years of their lives by using protective clothing (such as hats, long
sleeve shirts) and sunscreen.

In states like Texas, programs are in place to educate children and
teachers about the harmful effects of the sun and how to protect
themselves from nonmelanoma skin cancers and especially the horror of
Malignant Melanoma (MM) - a cancer which is very difficult to detect
before it can no longer be treated. According to Project S.A.F.E.T.Y
(http://www.mdanderson.org/departments/projectsafety/), MM is
"increasing at the rate of nearly 3% a year, faster than any other
form of cancer." "This increase is widely considered to be related to
overexposure to the sun's harmful rays prior to the age of 18."

Skin cancer is the most prevalent cancer in the United States today,
with 1.3 million new cases projected in 2002
(http://www.mdanderson.org/departments/projectsafety/). While risk is
highest in the Sun Belt states, UV levels are now harmful the world
over, with risk increasing towards the equator. Studies have shown
that sun damage in children in the first 10 to 20 years of their lives
greatly increases the risk of MM. In addition to MM there are the far
more prevalent effects of the sun - removable skin cancers, premature
ageing of the skin and wrinkling.

Protecting children from the sun is not just about instilling good
habits for adulthood, but rather actively protecting them from the
damage that they may only suffer in 20 or 30 years.

The Texas Cancer Council gives these recommendations for protecting
children from the dangerous effects of the sun at school:

- Having teachers and caregivers model sun-safe behavior, including
use of sunscreen and protective clothing.
- Obtaining parental permission to apply sunscreen to young children
prior to outdoor play or recess.
- Incorporating UV radiation and skin cancer awareness into the school
curriculum. (e.g. Project S.A.F.E.T.Y., or the EPA SunWise Program)
- Involving students in UV radiation measurements.
- Scheduling recess and outdoor activity times before 10 A.M. and
after 4:00 P.M, if at all possible.
- Developing permanent shade structures at play and sport areas.
- Including shade protection in the requirements of a safe play
ground.
- Planting trees for shade in public areas in or around play ground or
recreational areas.


Additional Links

Texas Cancer Council
http://www.texascancercouncil.org/skincancer/bp7.html

M.D. Anderson Center: Project S.A.F.E.T.Y
http://www.mdanderson.org/departments/projectsafety/

EPA SunWise School Program
http://www.epa.gov/sunwise/stayheal.html

National Cancer Institute: Skin Cancer Prevention
http://cancer.gov/cancerinfo/pdq/prevention/skin/patient/


Search Strategy

skin cancer prevention children hats
://www.google.com/search?num=30&hl=en&lr=lang_en&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=skin+cancer+prevention+children+hats&btnG=Google+Search
project S.A.F.E.T.Y
://www.google.com/search?q=Project+S.A.F.E.T.Y
UV radiation levels Atlanta
://www.google.com/search?num=30&hl=en&lr=lang_en&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=UV+radiation+levels+Atlanta&btnG=Google+Search
EPA SunWise Program
://www.google.com/search?num=30&hl=en&lr=lang_en&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=EPA+SunWise+Program&btnG=Google+Search

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Request for Answer Clarification by inquiring-ga on 28 Nov 2002 12:44 PST

Nicyspag-ga, The urls you provided are superb (5 star), but the "brief
introductory paragraph" makes no reference to the latitude of Atlanta,
or contributing factors to Atlanta's sun-exposure risk.

---

Request for Answer Clarification by inquiring-ga on 28 Nov 2002 13:08 PST

Also, no mention made of the Georgia recreational youth sports leagues
initiative "Got Youth Covered".  I found this courtesy of your link. 
(thanks!).

---

Clarification of Answer by nickyspag-ga on 29 Nov 2002 02:45 PST

Hi inquiring-ga

Atlanta, being further from the equator than the southern parts of
Florida or Texas, has a lower UV risk, however the radiation is still
dangerous. On the EPA's website
(http://www.epa.gov/sunwise/uvindex.html), you can type in your ZIP
code to see a UV Index Forecast, on a daily basis. I used 30303 for
Atlanta and got a UV index of 3, which is described as low risk, but
on the same day the index in Texas was 4, and the highest in the US
being Hawaii with 6. These levels are much higher in the summer
months.
See a map of major US cities and their daily UV indices at this
address:
http://www.epa.gov/sunwise/uvindexmap.html

I found the following:
"Georgia's 'Got Youth Covered' project demonstrated that an innovative
skin cancer prevention program for youth recreational leagues could
increase knowledge of sun protection measures among coaches, parents,
and young people. Other outcomes included a change in the hours for
outdoor activities, such as practice times for team sports, and the
use of more awnings and other structures that provide shade during
outdoor recreation."
http://www.healthgoods.com/Education/Health_Information/Cancer_Rates_and_Risks/preventing_skin_cancer.htm


Thank you
nickyspag-ga

After clarification requests, I found this url
http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/stratosphere/uv_index/uv_meanmax.html
due to a link the researcher provided.  This is the type specific info
I wanted.  My researcher did a fine job of providing links to urls so
that I can find info and write my own proposal paragraph.

My request was "Please write a brief proposal/plan to implement a "sun
protection awareness" campaign.  Less than 300 words should suffice.
It should include a brief introductory paragraph similar to an
executive summary.  It
should include some statistics (with url references) related to sun
protection for this age group of age 5 to 10.  Location of school is
in Atlanta, Georgia, USA suburbs.  So some correlation to this
longitude/latitude would be great."

I would have given a significant tip for a well-composed
paragraph/plan, but I suppose that is a type of "service" and not
"research".

Thank you nickyspag-ga for the great links!

I believe this is a sticky topic throughout school systems. In Alaska
of all places, middle schoolers (though not highschoolers) are
required to not wear hats, which I thought was rediculous.

I do not need a copy of the "Billy Letters"  from this website:

http://www.bfmelanoma.com/billy-letters.html

I am looking for something to present to the principal of the school,
to introduce the topic.