Staying sun safe at school
Australia has some of the highest rates of skin cancer in the world and as with all preventable diseases, the best cure is education. Sun safety begins at school, not just with lessons in the classroom but also in the playground.
Ensuring your school is sun safe
Students are at school when UV levels are at their highest daily point. Parents can’t turn up every recess and lunch to make sure their children are slipping, slopping and slapping so the easiest way for your kids to be sun safe is to make sure the school is following Cancer Council guidelines. Why not get together with a group of parents and help your children’s’ school become a registered SunSmart school? The program aims to increase awareness of skin cancer by focusing on 10 key areas including sun safe clothing, role modelling of staff, shade and curriculum.
Ensuring your kids are sun safe
Make sure your children are aware of the benefits of wearing sunscreen. It has been proven to reduce incidences of skin cancer and using it from a young age is the most beneficial. Schools should always have sunscreen on hand for students to use whenever they like. But you should never rely on just sunscreen to protect you from those harmful UV rays. These days, kids school uniforms and schoolwear often come with built-in UV protection so check the labels to make sure you’re buying the best ones. Girls school skirts, boys shorts and shirts and hats now all have the option of UPF 50+ protection, which blocks 97.5 per cent of the sun’s UV. Encourage your child to wear a hat whenever they are playing outside, not only will it protect their delicate facial skin but it will also help them to see that soccer ball kicked way up in the air or that basketball hoop that’s facing the sun.
Sun safety for adolescents
There’s no denying that it can be hard telling teenagers what to do. Try and lay off the intsructions and instead provide them with the information and facts about skin cancer and let them make their own decisions. Chances are their high school has provided them with information from the Cancer Council but they may not realise how easy it is to incorporate sun safety into their lifestyle and social scene. Encourage them to pop on a pair of sunglasses for lunch with their friends or hint at your boys to take a shirt when heading to the park for a friendly game of soccer. You could also drop the kids off for a surf early and pick them up before 11am. Not only will they have less competition for waves, but they’ll also avoid the harshest UV rays, which strike between 11am and 3pm.
Get your kids school uniforms and schoolwear from a company that has been providing quality and affordable school uniforms to Australian children for 40 years at www.stubbiesschoolwear.com.au.
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