Sometimes, there really oughtta, but only to undo stupid policies set in place by other laws.

A bill pending in the Maryland legislature, however, would require school health officers to make sure students are allowed to wear sunscreen when they go outdoors on sunny days, a right that is not universally recognized in schools, according to cancer prevention advocates.

[...]

Most systems place sunscreen in a category with lotions, food supplements and cough drops: Neither medicine nor food, they are deemed items that could make a child sick or cause an allergic reaction if used the wrong way.

“We wouldn’t want them to be sharing them with other kids who might have a hypersensitivity,” said Donna Heller, health services manager for Howard County schools. “Even with hand and body lotions, we require a note from the parents.”

Montgomery County schools treat sunscreen as an over-the-counter medicine. A student must bring in a doctor’s note to apply it, and only older students are allowed to carry it with them at school.

“If you had a very young kid, and they put it in their eyes, it could hurt them,” said Judith Covich, Montgomery’s director of health and student services.

Yes, and that same kid could also jam a pencil in his eye. Or his own finger. Or he could eat glue. Or pour it in his ear. Foolishness.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 6th, 2005 at 11:02 am by Radley Balko and is filed under There Oughtta Be a Law, Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.