Two Girls Severely Sunburned After School Forbids Sunscreen

Two girls came home with severe sunburns after their school would not allow them to apply sunscreen while they were out in the sun during Field Day, reports Yahoo! Shine.

Mom Jesse Michener posted the photos of her daughters’—Violet, 11, and Zoe, 9—sunburns on her blog. “Two of my three children experienced significant sunburns. Like, hurts-to-look-at burns," Jesse wrote. “Violet is starting to blister on her face. Both children have headaches, chills and pain. Two are home today as a direct result of how terrible they feel.”

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Teachers and staff were also aware that Zoe has a documented form of Albinism and is therefore extremely sensitive to the sun. Despite this knowledge, the teachers did not send the girls indoors, even after a few adults commented on the severity of their burns. One teacher even brought sunscreen, but said that it was “just for her.”

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A sunscreen policy, which is based on a statewide law, actually 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. This is meant to avoid exposing other students to medications they might be allergic to.

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Jesse says that she did not put sunscreen on her kids because it was raining that morning. “I remember thinking they must have had to have a rainy day plan,” she said. The sun came out around noon and the students had to stay outside for over five hours. Even if she had applied it that morning, it would have needed to be reapplied throughout the day (the FDA recommends 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."

Do you think it makes sense for a school to forbid sunscreen? Do you put sunscreen on your children every morning before school?