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It's fun to play in the sun, but did you know that too much sun can be bad for you? If you ever had sunburn, you have felt some of the bad effects of too much sun and ultraviolet (UV) radiation. Too many UV rays can cause more serious health effects too, such as skin cancer; older looking skin, and other skin problems; cataracts and other eye damage; and weakening of the immune system. (The immune system is what keeps us from getting sick.) Children need sun protection education since too much sun when you are young may lead to skin cancer later in life.
The good news is that you can prevent UV radiation from hurting you. You need to practice good sun safe habits while you are young. You should stay sun-safe all of your life.
This web site will help you learn more about the harmful effects of the sun and teach you ways to protect yourself. With fun activities like the "Who Wants to Be SunWise" trivia game and action steps, such as wearing a hat, sunglasses, and sunscreen, you will learn simple steps to protect yourself.
If your school joins the SunWise Program and orders a UV meter, they will receive the SunWise toolkit that includes activities and a UV sensitive Frisbee. With the meter you can measure how much UV radiation reaches your town. You can enter the UV information on the SunWise web site. Then you can look at the data and compare UV numbers with the National Weather Service's UV Index.
