Worried that applying sunscreen would lead to inappropriate touching, Maryland health officials put in place new rules that would have placed strict limits on summer camps distributing sunscreen to campers.
The rules would have also prohibited campers from helping each other apply the lotion, the Washington Post reported.
But critics worried that the sunscreen policy would expose children to another danger: skin cancer.
Clifford C. Mitchell, assistant health director for environmental health and food protection with the state of Maryland, acknowledged to the Post that the message may not have been clear.
From the Post:
“We regret the confusion caused,” Mitchell said Friday night in an interview.
The rules were aimed at protecting children from inappropriate touching at camp, but they came as the federal government campaigns for parents to get more serious about protecting children against damage to skin the sun’s rays can inflict.
On Friday evening, those guidelines were revised. The new policy will require parents to give permission to summer camps if they want their child to be using sunscreen. However, they dropped the rules over putting the lotion on and touching.
