Well, I don't agree with wearing a hat all year. Sure on the days where the uv index is high and in the cold, but all year? Thats being a little extreme and over protective. Although the purpose for the rest of the year isn't to protect them, its to enforce the policy of wearing a hat outside. Kids need sun. People need sun. Thats why we are seeing a vit d deficiency in Australia, because parents are now so paranoid of the sun - they cover them up.
I agree.
Our schools in NZ have the same policy, but I can't tell you the number of kids I have seen running around school at lunchtime without the supposedly mandated hats on. So I suppose the other thing might be what is the point of having the policy if you aren't going to enforce it...and are you replacing one issue with another; decrease in skin cancer rates but an increase in Vit D deficiency and all the nasties that come with that. I never would have known had I not actually been driving/walking past school when the kids were out.
DS1 is required to put sunscreen on before he leaves home in the summer months, so I'm not that bothered about whether he wears a hat or not when he is at school. I tend to wear one in summer, but only because it makes it easier for me to see when out without having to shade my eyes all the time.
laugh Our boys do wear hats at certain times of day in the summer, but otherwise we are a hats optional family.
Why can't the policy be about everything in moderation instead of just instituting a blanket policy? So it might say "if you are out between say 11-3, or whenever the sun is 'strongest', you must wear a hat and outside those times they are optional".