Teach Sun Safety
Teaching children early in life about preventive practices may lead to lifelong sun safe habits. Teachers spend time outside monitoring outdoor events, walking to and from class, and even while teaching some lessons. Include sun safety education for teachers during in-service trainings and encourage teachers to incorporate sun safety education into their lesson plans.
To incorporate sun safety into classroom instruction:
- Teach students about sun safety and reinforce school policies through classroom instruction that meets national education standards. Try to integrate sun safety education across subjects.
- Each year, designate several hours of classroom instruction to sun safety. Incorporate age-appropriate sun safety (skin cancer prevention) activities or curricula into lesson plans.
- Students can serve as sun safety ambassadors for the community.
- Encourage students to become sun safety peer educators and role models for younger children or students from other schools.
- Encourage students to write articles about sun safety for school newsletters and yearbooks, and local newspapers.
- Encourage students to design sun safety projects for science, art, and other exhibitions.
- Have students announce the daily UV Index during morning announcements.
- Students in scouts, 4-H, and other service clubs can address sun safety issues in their community activities.
- Incorporate sun safety education into non-traditional educational evironments such as waiting in line for school health screenings and school pictures.
To incorporate sun safety into staff development:
- Offer in-service workshops on sun safety.
- Designate a sun safety month and provide staff with sun safety education for their own use.
- Empower team leaders among staff to be peer educators for sun safety.
Click here for a list of sun safety programs and curricula.
