Give kids free hats, says mum
School kids in Wigan should get free hats to protect them from the blazing sun!
That's the message from mum-of-three and Wigan councillor Debbie Fairhurst, who is alarmed by the number of primary children she sees running around playgrounds without head protection.
Now she has asked the borough's education department to consider issuing all under-11s with baseball-style caps.
She believes that they should be made compulsory wear at break times every time the Met Office issues a sunburn warning.
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Her three children, Gareth, eight, three-year-old Thomas and 18-month-old Hannah, always wear hats when the sun is strong.
And Coun Fairhurst says relatives in Australia have confirmed that wearing of sun hats has long been compulsory there during school break times because of the health risk.
With sunshine in Britain increasing in intensity, now is the time to introduce them here, she says.
Mrs Fairhurst, the Independent Conservative councillor for Shevington with Lower Ground, is now intending to introduce a motion to the next full council meeting.
She said: "I always put sun cream on my children and they have all got hats, but I would like to see the schools themselves enforce the wearing of them during break times, because they have a responsibility for our children during school hours.
"The hats my children wear cost me less than 2 each from a discount store and I know that with bulk purchases the education service could get the price down to less than half that, for children who forget to bring one.
"They could get the school crest put on them so that they become part of the uniform, if schools would like.
"Sun stroke is no laughing matter and, if we don't take precautions now, we are building up problems for the future with incidence of skin cancer."
A spokesman for charity Cancer Research UK welcomed Coun Fairhurst's proposals, saying that sunburn can double the risk of developing skin cancer.
He said: "Young children do have thinner, more delicate skin than adults and because of this, their risk of getting sunburnt is much higher.
"Schools can help protect children by developing their own school sun protection policy and including sun protection in the curriculum."
A spokesman for Wigan's Childrens and Young People's Department said that they would be responding to Coun Fairhurst's proposals.
He added: "This is a matter for individual schools."
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Friday 10 February 2012
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