Wow… while parents should do what they can so their children don’t burn (it hurts!), calling the cops is simply nuts. Scaring the public about about skin cancer from sunburn is fear-mongering.
The Daily Mail reports:
Children who get badly sunburned should be referred to social services, say campaigners.
They insist parents are guilty of ‘neglect’ if they allow their children to get so severely burned they need hospital treatment.
Skin cancer and burns charities say that in cases where health staff have concerns they should report the child’s condition to social workers.
The claim that getting a sunburn as a child triples the risk of skin cancer is nothing short of inflammatory and junk science-based — if nothing else, epidemiologic studies provide no information on “risk.” Stay tuned for more on the tanning scare coming shortly from JunkScience.
This all about the control freak’s ego, they couldn’t care less about the kids.
Slather the kids with sunscreen and keep them out of the sun. Then they get multiple sclerosis. Damned if you do, and damned if you don’t.
It is conceivable for a child’s severe sunburn to be an indicator of other forms of neglect. I used to be in the trade and I know a little about it. Sun exposure by itself is no such thing.
If these people really care, they should campaign to have small packets of sunscreen given to middle school students along with the free condoms they so fervently demand be dispensed.
As with most “x times the risk” reports, the actual risk is concealed. 3 times a low risk is still a low risk.