Camp sunburn has parents upset
Parents upset that camp counsellors didn’t ensure sufficient sunscreen was applied during camp outing
A fun day at a City of Mount Pearl summer camp last Tuesday turned into a painful and uncomfortable week for eightyear-old Dawson Devereaux.
It was a humid, hot sunny day and the kids and counsellors of the camp went on an outing to Marine Park in Pouch Cove.
Dawson was out in the sun too long without proper sunscreen and received a severe sunburn.
His parents, Chad and Colleen Devereaux, are angry.
“From what I understand he was expected to apply his own sunscreen that day,” Chad said. “Mind you, he’s only eight. What eight-year-old who is playing with his friends is going to think about stopping, or want to stop to put on sunscreen? It was the counsellors’ responsibility to ensure sunscreen was applied.”
Colleen said that when she arrived at the camp at the end of the day last Tuesday to pick up Dawson, he came running to her, crying. The counsellors told her that about half an hour before she arrived, Dawson had started complaining about not feeling well and wanted his mother to come to get him.
“He just hugged into me as tight as he could and was crying. I asked him if he was hurt and he said, ‘No,’” she said. “So we came home, he had a glass of water and had a little bit of supper. Not eating much is strange for him, because the first question when I picked him up from camp is, ‘What’s for supper?’ So I know right away he was off,
that something wasn’t right.”
Colleen said it wasn’t until bath time after supper, when Dawson took off his shirt, that she saw the sunburn. She took pictures of the burn and sent them to Chad, who was working.
“I couldn’t believe this had happened,” she said. “You can see in the picture his finger prints are there when he tried to put on sunscreen himself. Someone was not paying attention to the kids.
“As the night went on he com-
plained more and more and before bed it started to blister.”
Dawson was taken to the family doctor, whom Colleen and Chad say couldn’t believe how bad the sunburn was.
A week later, he’s still having cream and dressing applied to the sunburn.
“It’s really, really itchy now,” Dawson said Monday at his home, while pointing to his shoulders. “If it is itchy, that means the skin is healing and it’s getting better.”
The information pamphlet for the camp states children should bring a hat and wear sunscreen, and bring extra sunscreen for use during the day. Spray sunscreen is not permitted, only lotion.
“I’m always ensuring he has his hat and sunscreen on because there is a history of skin cancer in my family,” Colleen said. “The counsellors are supposed to be trained before summer camp opens on how to apply sunscreen to these kids. They are supposed to be watch-
ing them.”
Chad posted about the incident on Facebook and the post generated more than 1,200 comments, he said.
Some of the commenters debated whether the counsellors are allowed to apply lotion to the kids or if they could get in trouble if they touched a child by applying sunscreen.
“If you are going to sunscreen my kid, it’s fine. It was never an issue for me of whose job it was to apply the sunscreen,” Chad said. “My issue was someone was responsible for Dawson at camp that day. Who left Dawson out there in the heat that long and didn’t realize he was getting that sunburn? My biggest thing is awareness. I have parents on the post and some parents private-messaging me that their kids were sunburned that day, too.”
Chad read a comment from Steve Kent, City of Mount Pearl chief administrative officer, who stated: “It is not our policy that children apply their own sunscreen. It is the expectation of the city that counsellors help children apply their sunscreen as frequently as required to avoid burning.”
Chad and Colleen met with Mount Pearl Mayor Dave Aker late Monday evening.
Aker told The Telegram later that he wanted to meet with the family to see how Dawson was doing, and to assure them the matter was being dealt with.
“The first thing we’ve done this morning is we had a staff meeting of all our camp counsellors to re-emphasize the importance and priority of maintaining sunscreen,” Aker said.
“And to also point out to our camp counsellors that it is their responsibility to ensure that the sunscreen is applied. That is an existing policy, so we are just basically re-emphasizing compliance and going over the safety that is required when the kids are playing outdoors.
“It is the responsibility of the child to put on his or her own sunscreen, or to buddy up to do it, but our camp counsellors have the ultimate responsibility and accountability to ensure that those kids are putting on their sunscreen on a regular basis.”
Aker said the city has also decided to take the policy one step further by adding an extra layer of safety.
“When you are swimming outdoors, quite often the sensation of being burnt is not felt if you are in and out of the water because you are always cool,” he said. “So what we’ve done today is implemented a swim shirt policy where any time children are swimming outdoors — whether in the sun or on a cloudy day, at all times — they must wear a swim shirt in addition to their sunscreen. A memo and email is going out to parents. If any child doesn’t have a swim shirt, the city will supply T-shirts free of charge to ensure they are covered up. This is to complement the sunscreen policy, not to replace it.”