 Fun in the sun, sand, surf, soaking up rays. Who doesn't enjoy a day at the beach, or picnicking, or skiing, or spending time outdoors with family and friends? Seems like a fairly healthy way to spend the day, or is it? Actually, these people may be engaging in pretty dangerous behavior. They may be putting themselves at risk for several serious health problems, such as skin cancer, cataracts, and a compromised immune system. In response to a growing concern about these health risks, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has developed the SunWise program. It is designed for parents, teachers, and school administrators to teach kids how to be safer in the sun, which in turn can help prevent sun-related illnesses later in life. Skin cancer is one of the most serious health effects caused by overexposure to ultraviolet or UV radiation emitted from the sun's rays. Too much exposure to UV rays early in life can be dangerous, and in some cases fatal. In fact, the National Institutes of Health recently listed UV radiation from solar and artificial sources as a known carcinogen. According to the American Cancer Society, roughly one in five people will develop skin cancer at some point in their lifetime. That number is equal to the entire populations of New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Washington, D.C., and skin cancer affects people with all skin types. Every day I'm seeing teachers in my office for treatment of skin cancer, and the reason I'm seeing them is not because yesterday they went out and got a sunburn. It all starts on the playground in kindergarten. That daily sun exposure. Skin cancer is on the rise in America. In fact, half of all new cancers are skin cancers. This year, more people than ever before will be diagnosed with this disease. Melanoma is the most deadly form of skin cancer. Estimates show that the risk of developing this kind of cancer was roughly one in 1,500 for people born in 1935. By 2001, that number had risen to one in 71, and for people born in 2010, it is estimated that one in 50 people will develop melanoma at some point. Eye damage from UV exposure is another reason for concern. One of the biggest risks to your eyes is sun damage. Sun damage can cause changes in the surface of the eyes that are unsightly and also can decrease your vision. Sun damage can also cause cataracts, and sun damage can cause macular degeneration. All those things can lead to blindness and disability in the future. Medicare estimates that treatment of cataracts alone costs billions of dollars annually. So why have sun-related health problems increased? Only during the last few decades have Americans become sun worshipers. Up until the early 20th century, having a tan was associated with outdoor manual labor and was generally considered undesirable. In the early 1920s, a thriving stock market created a new leisure class that spent more time in the sun. As people's outdoor activities increased, they became more tan. Fashion designer Coco Chanel gave the new trend an additional boost by sporting a tan she acquired while yachting in the south of France. Tans suddenly became chic. With shrinking swimsuit styles, the expansion of suburban outdoor living in the 1950s and 60s, the development of beach condos, and finally with the growth of the indoor tanning industry in the 70s and 80s, the demand for sun tans developed into a dangerous cultural norm. During this same time period, the stratospheric ozone layer, which filters UV radiation, began to thin because of chemicals emitted into the atmosphere. As a result, UV radiation began reaching the Earth at record levels. By the time we discovered the danger of UV radiation and our increasingly risky behavior, much damage was already done. Americans had subjected themselves to decades of unhealthy UV exposure, resulting in a dramatic rise in skin cancer. And despite efforts to stop ozone depletion, it will continue for many more years before it begins to recover. We now know that a tan or burn isn't healthy at all. Whether obtained naturally or by artificial means, any change to your skin's natural color is a sign of the sun's damage to your skin. This is the first step in premature aging and even an indication that your immune system may be temporarily suppressed. Many people believe that only lighter skin people need to be concerned about the effects of overexposure to the sun. Though darker skin has more natural pigment, which acts as a bit of a shield, all skin is still susceptible to many of the damaging effects of UV radiation. In darker-skinned people, skin cancer is often not detected until later stages when it is more dangerous. And the risk of other UV-related health effects is not dependent on skin type. There is good news, however. Protecting yourself and others is easy, though it requires a change in behavior and attitude. Many adverse health effects can be prevented by following some very simple guidelines. You can protect yourself by wearing sunscreen of SPF 15 or higher, wearing a wide-brimmed hat, clothing that provides your body with protection from the sun, and UV-blocking sunglasses. Also, you can spend more time in the shade and limit time in the sun between 10 and 4 when UV rays are the most intense. Avoid tanning salons and check the UV index daily. Reaching students at an early age is critical because the majority of a person's lifetime UV exposure occurs before the age of 18. In fact, children who get just one or two blistering sunburns during their childhood can more than double the chance of getting melanoma later in life. That's why EPA developed the SunWise School Program. SunWise is an award-winning environmental and health education program designed to help educators raise sun safety awareness among children. Since 1998, thousands of teachers nationwide have enrolled in the SunWise program. The program focuses on the science of UV radiation and the health risks from over-exposure. It also explains why we are at increased risk due to ozone depletion. It helps teachers become positive role models for healthy attitudes and behaviors and by providing students with a range of activities to help them understand the effect that UV radiation can have on their bodies. It encourages students to make healthy sun safety choices. The SunWise program was designed and tested by educators and curriculum developers with help from environmental organizations, meteorologists, parents, children and medical professionals. It was also reviewed for consistency with national educational standards and was designed for teachers of any subject. My principal signed up for SunWise at the beginning of this school year and I began implementing some of the activities a few months later. SunWise activities are designed for K-3-8 students. The program is cross-curricular and each activity has a specific learning outcome. It's so easy to use the SunWise kit because it requires a minimal time commitment in terms of preparation and teaching. And finally, it's free to teachers and school nurses. I like the SunWise program because it has everything in there that you could possibly need. All the activities, they provide you with the background information. They tell you how much prep time you'll need, how much time it'll take in the classroom and the simple fact that it meets the national standards already. You can really see when you use the SunWise program that it was created with teachers in mind. How long do you think it's going to take for the Frisbee to change from white to purple? We already know what color it is. One of the most popular activities is the UV Frisbee. Designed to be used at any grade level, the objective of this activity is to demonstrate the effects of UV radiation and to teach children ways to protect themselves from the sun. You can take a clear sheet of plastic and put that over top of the Frisbee and put different sunscreens on there and have the kids take it outside. When they come back in, they can see which sunscreen provided the best protection. In another activity, students go outside and using chalk and a watch, they measure their shadows. The learning objectives of this activity are to learn how shadows change from morning to evening and how to use the length of a shadow to determine what times of the day you should seek protection from the sun. While teaching awareness about sun safety, students have the opportunity to learn about science and math principles. The kit is divided into 10 parts. It is separated into an instruction section that describes how to use the kit and activity cards for grades K through 2, 3 through 5, and 6 through 8. The policy section describes how to establish school policies for sun-safe behaviors and how to erect shade structures. The kit also provides resources for additional information and includes a certificate of sun wisdom that teachers can photocopy and award to students who complete the activities. These are just some examples of the many different activities the SunWise kit provides. We have learned that starting sun-safe practices at an early age can help prevent future illness or death. Please join SunWise and take advantage of this valuable resource to teach sun-safe practices in your school.