THE SENATE	S.R. NO.	134
TWENTY-FOURTH LEGISLATURE, 2007
STATE OF HAWAII

SENATE RESOLUTION

REQUESTING THE DEPartment of education TO report to the legislature on THE COST OF ESTABLISHING A SUN PROTECTION PROGRAM FOR STUDENTS IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS AND COUNTY-SPONSORED PROGRAMS.

     WHEREAS, Hawaii schools have the potential to influence student's behavior particularly with regard to outdoor activities both during and after school hours; and

     WHEREAS, it is estimated that most children and adolescents spend two and one-half to three hours per day outdoors in the sun; and

     WHEREAS, exposure to the sun's ultraviolet rays during childhood accounts for a significant percentage of a person's lifetime exposure; and

     WHEREAS, the lifetime risk of getting skin cancer is directly linked to sun exposure and sunburn during childhood and adolescence; and

     WHEREAS, overexposure to the ultraviolet rays of the sun accounts for the majority of all skin cancers in the United States; and

     WHEREAS, skin cancer is the most common cancer in the United States, and the American Cancer Society estimates that approximately two hundred seventy people in Hawaii will be diagnosed with skin cancer in 2007; and

     WHEREAS, schools, along with families and communities, share the responsibility to promote sun safety; and

     WHEREAS, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the World Health Organization, and the National Association of School Boards of Education have published guidelines for sun safety and skin protection for schools; and

     WHEREAS, because Hawaii's public schools do not have a comprehensive sun protection policy, it is imperative that the State act expeditiously to educate and protect the health of Hawaii's students by establishing a sun protection program in public schools; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-fourth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2007, that the Department of Health is requested to report to the Legislature on the cost of establishing a sun protection program for students in public schools and county-sponsored programs; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Governor, the Director of Health, the Superintendent of Education, and the Chairperson of the Board of Education.

OFFERED BY:

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Report Title: 

Sun Protective Education Costs in Department of Education; Requesting a study