School Playday Issue

My nephew was taken out with his class for a playday last week, where the teacher told the boys that could take their shirts off (I'm assuming because of the heat, or for fear of getting them dirty). This teacher neglected to bring sunscreen for these students, though...and my nephew ended up with 2nd and 3rd degree burns and fluid-filled blisters. Does anyone know if anything has happened to this teacher for this blindingly obvious act of negligence? I'm not currently in town, and can't check things as easily as I would notmally be able to.

OMG! I have seen the pictures of that poor child's blisters! That teacher should face criminal charges for blatant child endangerment! And the school principal should be kicked for brushing it off like it was of no importance! He even refused to look at the burns on this boy. If it were my child, I'd be filing suit against the teaches, the principal & the school district.

concerned uncle wrote:

My nephew was taken out with his class for a playday last week, where the teacher told the boys that could take their shirts off (I'm assuming because of the heat, or for fear of getting them dirty). This teacher neglected to bring sunscreen for these students, though...and my nephew ended up with 2nd and 3rd degree burns and fluid-filled blisters. Does anyone know if anything has happened to this teacher for this blindingly obvious act of negligence? I'm not currently in town, and can't check things as easily as I would notmally be able to.

Poor baby! I cried when I saw those awful blisters! That teacher should be fired at the very least! Boiled in hot oil would be even more appropiate!

That is absolutely disgraceful! As adults it is our responsibility to nurture and protect the children regardless of whether they are our own or not. This is especially true for teachers--adults whom we assume will take the very best care of our kids while in their care. This woman should have her teaching credentials revoked at the very least!

Oh, by the way...the teacher's name is Mrs. Rohmer at Nocona Elem. School. Any parents of her first graders should be aware of what type of person this woman is.

Have these educators lost their minds?!! This borders on child abuse and should be investigated by the authorities.

My mother told me she would be sending an article to the local paper, with the picture of his shoulder attached. The important note is that was simply the /worst/ of the burns.

The Principal's comment was along the lines of "I'll have to speak with the teachers and revise the program to make certain this doesn't happen again, next year." One would think that common sense would be present, even if the parents applied sunscreen in the morning before school, it would still have been 3 to 4 hours later when the children were outside and playing.

I feel so sorry for those children who were so severely sunburned. The teacher should not have allowed them to remove their shirts in the first place! Also, it's common sense to have sunblock available for kids who are playing outdoors in the warm weather. Now you can buy sunblock in a spray can and just spray it on your skin if you don't like applying lotion or cream. Or she could have taught the kids to apply the lotion themselves. That would have been a great lesson in self-protection against harmful UV rays and possible skin cancer in the future. There will be a slew of lawsuits against the school and teacher, no doubt.

Yes, Blanca, that would have been a good lesson for the children. And I've just learned that SUNBLOCK WAS AVAILABLE at the event. The teacher just didn't feel it necessary to apply it. I don't know if it was LAZINESS or just STUPIDITY.

My heart goes out to the children and their families who have been affected by the carelessness of this teacher. How many times we were told as kids to put on our sunscreen when going out on hot days!? When I was in school our teachers always made sure that we had sunblock prior to leaving for a field trip and they also made sure that we wore it. Like Blanca said, there is sunscreen in a spray form now which would have been SO EASY for the teacher to have on hand and give each child a spray, it would literally take only seconds. I also agree that the teacher shouldn't have allowed them to remove their shirts in the first place.

I couldn't stay quiet! This is terrible! We can't mess with the Sun, and we are talking about kids here.. It is not even hard work to put sunblock... That school should be sued since they are not taking any consideration to this. Unbelievable!

After receiving many calls from concerned parents, the principal of Nocona Elementary has guaranteed that sunscreen will be taken and used on all future field trips.
Due to past accusations of inappropriate "touching" by teachers, some might be a bit hesitant about rubbing sunscreen on their students. So, if parents have any apprehensions with teachers "touching" their child, then they should provide the spray-on type of sunscreen.
It's really sad that a little child had to sustain such injuries in order for the adults who are responsible for his well-being to become aware of basic safety issues.

I just happened to stumble across this when searching the keyword "school." First, my thoughts are with the child. It is an adults job to make decisions for children in cases like this. Children this age only see the fun ahead of them and not the practical precautions that must be made. But, although I have personal opinions about what I have read happened, I am not in a position to judge what decisions this teacher made in this case. I do not know the teacher involved nor the exact events that led to this situation. I do believe that like the rest of us, she is human and that going on a personal attack of her character is not going to help the situation one bit. If what is said about the situation is true, then she should be held accountable for her actions. I do agree with the earlier post that even if a parent applies sunscreen at home, if it is hours later that the children are going outside, it needs to be reapplied. As a teacher myself for a district 20 times the size of your school district, I can tell you what we do. We ask the parents to apply sunscreen to their children before arriving to school on field trip days or other outdoor events. We also ask them to send sunscreen with their students to school. Immediately prior to going outside we remind the children to generously apply more sunscreen to themselves. We do not appply it for them but carefully monitor them as they do it independently. I do have to question why students were allowed to take off their shirts in a school setting though, if this indeed was the case. Moving forward, my advice would be for all involved to sit down and discuss the situation in a calm manner in order to get the bottom of the story and find a path forward. I know that when children are involved, emotions run high and it is hard to do. But, in the best interest of the child who most likely still holds his teacher in high regards (children are very forgiving), it is imperative to get this issue resolved.

I agree with all that has been said from everyone that has taken the time to voice their thoughts on all of this..We all hear everyday about the harmful effects on everyones skin and the tender skin of our young child..The SUN'S rays are worst than they were when some of us were young, they talk about it everyday on T.V. Even today on one of the news shows, a Dr. was telling that a sunburn on a young persons skin will cause melinoma skin cancer when they become adults. It cannot be stressed enough about the need for sun-block, they are even coming out with shirts that will prevent the sun's rays from going thru to the childrens skin. There is a picture of this little boys burns in the June 4th Nocona News paper in the letters to the editor section. I have NEVER in my life seen a sunburn like this!
I agree, the children should not have been allowed to take off the shirts while playing in the water and sun for hours. The parents did apply the sun-block before school but it should be re-applied every 2 hours, the parents also sent sun-block with the children, now we all know that 7 year olds need supervision and guidance and should have been told that it was time to re-apply the sun-block and like Blance said "the teacher could have taught the kids to apply the lotion themselves. That would have been a great lesson in self-protection against harmful UV rays and possible skin cancer in the future." They could have helped each other apply it, with the teacher making sure it was being done. This happened May 27th and as of today, this little guy still cannot wear a shirt, has not been in the sun, and is still feeling alot of pain. As for the Teacher, she has not yet called to see how he is feeling!!!!!!
Yes, the teacher is human, but this was the last of May in the Texas Sun, these were 1st grade children, the boys were allowed to remove their shirts and all played in the water and sun for hours, now I Believe that she should have known that they would get sunburnt, after all this is common sence, does not take a Rocket scientist to know this. If the teacher did not realize that this would happen, then WHY is she being called a TEACHER?

yall get off of your soap box and go get a degree in education so that you can replace the teacher that made a mistake. I am sure that when you take her job, you will be the "perfect" teacher. Sunburns go along with a male child and summer. I can remember cooking in the sun and getting big blisters on my shoulders and ears. That just gives us something to brag about when we get older.

Since when does it take a degree to practice a little common sense? Sure, we all got burned as children, but back then the earth's atmosphere was a lot different & the sun's rays were a lot less harmful. How many cases of skin cancer could have been prevented if we'd only known then what we know now? I'm not saying that this woman is a bad teacher. She may be one of the best--in the classroom--but I do believe that she really let her kids down when it didn't even enter her mind that she should be concerned about them being sunburned & possibly developing skin cancer as a result. I am a nurse in Las Vegas & I see this every day. Malignant melanoma is nothing to brag about so let's do what we can to protect our children from having to face it. It's not that hard &, as adults, it's our responsibility. We tell our kids not to smoke, don't we?

This is Awful! No doubts about it....but I have dealt with the pricipal on occasion and his answer to almost everything presented is we will take steps to make sure this does not happen again." I believe that is his standard answer to almost every situation from what I have heard. This is just my observance but I guess we should be happy that he is willing to try to fix glaring oversight and errors. But don't get your hopes up that any kind of teacher "discipline" (on any situation or level)will take place.

The nighttime is the right time.
The nighttime is the right time.
The nighttime is the right time.
The nighttime is the right time.
The nighttime is the right time.
The nighttime is the right time.
The nighttime is the right time.
The nighttime is the right time.
The nighttime is the right time.
The nighttime is the right time.

phred bob wrote:

yall get off of your soap box and go get a degree in education so that you can replace the teacher that made a mistake. I am sure that when you take her job, you will be the "perfect" teacher. Sunburns go along with a male child and summer. I can remember cooking in the sun and getting big blisters on my shoulders and ears. That just gives us something to brag about when we get older.

Where in this is Something to brag about? This is NOT just a sunburn, this is 2nd and 3rd drgree burns that had to have medical attention from a Dr. who, by the way said " THIS IS TERRIBLE and should NOT have Happened" I am sure if you recieved these kind of burns from the sun you would be one that would NOT want another person to recieve them..

Oh, and as of Today, Mrs. Rohmer (the teacher) has yet to call and ask how this child is doing!!!!! Where is her concern of this matter or her compasion??????????

Grandma wrote:

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Where in this is Something to brag about? This is NOT just a sunburn, this is 2nd and 3rd drgree burns that had to have medical attention from a Dr. who, by the way said " THIS IS TERRIBLE and should NOT have Happened" I am sure if you recieved these kind of burns from the sun you would be one that would NOT want another person to recieve them..
Oh, and as of Today, Mrs. Rohmer (the teacher) has yet to call and ask how this child is doing!!!!! Where is her concern of this matter or her compasion??????????

Oh get a life. If Mrs. Rhomer calls, she would be accused of trying to suck up to the parents to save her job and if she dont call she is accused of not caring. I doubt if the doctors in this animal clinic everyone refers to as "Nocona Hospital" knows the difference between a rug burn and third degree burns. I have had sunburns that raised blisters and I look at it as a learning lesson on being in the sun.