Sunscreen Ban Ignites One TX Mom's Fury

By Kim D.

As parents we take preventative measures to ensure our children are not harmed, and we should have the same expectation for those who claim to take responsibility for them at school. Next week my son begins camp at an Episcopal Church school, and one thing on the “send” list, along with a change of clothes, is sunscreen. Somehow his teachers will manage an entire class of preschoolers and help them to reapply sunscreen as needed.

Sounds reasonable, right? Well, over the weekend, we learned that this common sense does not apply at public schools, according to one Texas mom who is angry over a school ban on sunscreen that she says led to her daughter getting a severe sunburn during a field trip. The North East Independent School District has the restriction because it considers sunscreen toxic, and fears kids will eat it, parent Christy Riggs, of San Antonio, told Fox News.

My kid is four and still is horrible about putting all kinds of things he shouldn't in his mouth, but one thing he doesn't do is eat sunscreen or lip balm.  I find it hard to believe that older children would be tempted to eat sunblock lotion as well. 

A spokesperson for the school district claimed that allergic reactions to sunscreen are one of the numerous reasons the district does not allow sunblock in its 72 schools. “We don’t want students sharing sunscreen . . . If students get it in their eyes or react badly to the sunscreen it can be quite serious.” The district treats sunscreen as a medicine . . . and requires a doctor’s note to apply it at school.