Tanning not so smart

Media Release, The Cancer Council Victoria and SunSmart, 22 October 2007; The Age, In Brief, 23 October 2007

 

The Cancer Council Victoria and SunSmart are targeting secondary school students with a new campaign to reduce
the risk of young people developing skin cancer. With melanoma the most common cancer in young people aged 12
to 24, secondary-school aged students across Australia are being encouraged to improve their sun protection.

Cancer Council Victoria director, Mr David Hill, has said that research indicates that adolescents are paying more
attention to peer pressure and a desire to be tanned than to health warnings. As a result, a new Sun Protection Programme has been developed to particularly target teenagers.

Ms Kylie Strong, manager of the Cancer Council Victoria’s Skin Cancer Prevention Programme, says that primary
schools have embraced sun protection messages, but that secondary schools have not. Ms Strong said that ‘In Victoria,
84 percent of primary schools are members of the Cancer Council's SunSmart program, however only about a quarter
of secondary schools have joined to date.’

Research by the council shows that 60 percent of students liked to tan, while more than three quarters admitted that
their friends thought being tanned was a good thing.

Ms Strong said that the Cancer Council Victoria and SunSmart recognise that ‘teenagers are much more resistant to
using sun protection. Schools have told us that some of the barriers around sun protection with adolescents include
peer pressure and the desire for a tan. We also know that many secondary schools have experienced difficulties with enforcing hat wearing, because wearing sun protective hats is not seen as ‘cool' by older students.’

The new programme, which has been developed with the aid of secondary schools, covers seven elements, including clothing, shade, professional development for teachers and incorporating sun protection into the school curriculum.

For a copy of the Sun Protection Booklet, click here.

 

 

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