Or is it another example of the “wussification of America?” I don’t know how to classify this story, other than it is a sad commentary on what is happening to America. Bureaucrats in Maryland, who obviously have too much time on their hands, are issuing rules governing sunscreen on summer camps.
Have we really reached the point where we need to regulate approval for sunscreen use? And have we terrified ourselves to the point where we assume camp counselors are potential pedophiles (or, are we stupid enough to think rules like this would stop a real pedophile?). In any event, this story would have been perfect for my post comparing bureaucratic stupidity in the US vs bureaucratic stupidity in the UK.
Here’s an excerpt from the Washington Post.
Maryland health officials were making revisions late Friday night to a new policy that would have severely restricted who could apply sunscreen to children attending summer camps. The new policy, which was issued last month, ordered summer camp operators to steer away from assisting kids with applying sunscreen and to get parents’ permission before letting any child use sunscreen at camp. …The guidelines said, “Camp staff should limit touching the camper as much as possible. Under no circumstances should campers assist each other in the application of sunscreen.” The policy also prohibited camps from supplying sunscreen to campers. …Health officials had argued that their motivation was strictly about safety. “Our intention is certainly not to discourage the use of sunblock,” Mitchell said. “It’s really to walk a fine line between protecting kids’ skin and making sure they feel personally safe.” Mitchell said he did not know of any cases of inappropriate touching by counselors that might have led to the new regulations. At camps across Maryland, parents are receiving permission forms asking whether their child may use sunscreen while at camp. At the Barrie Day Camp in Silver Spring, for example, parents who allow their child to use sunscreen must also check off on whether the sunblock may be applied with or without assistance from staff members. “The camp is just doing what the state ordered them to do,” said Paul Basken, a father of two children who attend Barrie camp. “But this can’t be serious. I mean, if I didn’t feel safe about the camp, I just wouldn’t send my kids there.” …The rules are “absurd,” said Maral Skelsey, a dermatologist in Chevy Chase. “This is the biggest known carcinogen that children are exposed to. We should be asking camp counselors to take an active role in promoting skin protection.”
Our Founding Fathers must be looking down at us, shaking their heads and wondering “where did we go wrong?”
[…] Is This an Example of the Nanny State Run Amok, Government Stupidity, or the Overlawyered Society? […]
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[…] in Maryland. This is the state, after all, that crashed on the Laffer Curve, imposed regulations making it difficult for summer camps to protect kids from sunburn, and considered a law to give bums panhandling […]
[…] We also have regulations in Maryland governing the application of sunscreen at summer camps. […]
[…] We also have regulations in Maryland governing the application of sunscreen at summer camps. […]
[…] down the same path. We really have to stop this: —Maryland has regulations governing the application of sunscreen at summer camps. —A Rhode Island boy got in trouble for bringing a toy gun to school. —The […]
[…] We also have regulations in Maryland governing the application of sunscreen at summer camps. […]
[…] We also have regulations in Maryland governing the application of sunscreen at summer camps. […]
Wasn’t this “touching problem” solved with the invention of spray on sunscreen?
Government can always be depended on to lock the barn door after the horse has already gotten out, and then to tell you how lucky you are to have them on the job.
Stupid is as stupid does. Corporatism micro-manages everything to death. The corporate structure won’t be happy until everyone is standing in line, waiting for metered distribution of approved supplies. That is efficiency, which Hitler was very fond of.
While Maryland has a history of adopting some ‘Nanny State’ measures, I have to believe that the measures were adopted out of the fear of potential lawsuits from the public. As a former city administrator, I witnessed attempts by the public to reap financial gain by suing, or threatening to bring a lawsuit against the city for seemingly innocuous conditions. A piece of crumbling asphalt in a street is a potential lawsuit waiting to happen if a citizen happens to step into the hole and twist an ankle. A city park and pool are just brimming with opportunities for lawsuits. Very often, the insurance carriers for the governmental agency will negotiate a quick settlement with the citizen in order to avoid the possibility of a very large jury awarded settlement at a trial. After several years of such claims, the insurance carrier will either raise the premiums that the agency must pay, or drop the agency as a bad risk. The result of this detail is to close the park and pool, over-compensate by issuing seemingly ridiculous regulations, or raise the fee schedule that the public must pay in order to fund current and future insurance premium increases. All governments in this country are the result of what we have allowed, or wanted them to become. A government is not a tangible object that can be touched or seen. Our government is within every one of us. Before we can change the current outrageous conditions of government, we first must change our lives and our values. The Founding Fathers didn’t do anything wrong: We have just gone astray.
http://www.ajc.com/lifestyle/underwater-blackout-a-dangerous-986999.html
Read this article. There are no words to describe the wussification of the Nanny State.