News updates are sent daily. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Captain Cutaneum teaches kids about sun safety
Digg|
Save|
License|
Print|
E-mail|
Captain Cutaneum answers students’ questions and passes out his comic book after speaking about the dangers of the sun to fifth- and sixth-graders at Lindbergh Elementary School in Mesa.
Leigh Shelle Robertus, Tribune
By day, he’s a mild-mannered dermatologist, but during the other part of his day, he is a skin cancer-fighting superhero — and he soon may be coming to an elementary school near you.
Captain Cutaneum is an East Valley action hero who burst onto the scene of several local schools, teaching children about sun exposure and skin damage. He wears a widebrimmed blue hat, dark sunglasses and long blue gloves to protect himself from the sun’s harmful rays, and he encourages kids to use the same cover-up principles.
“You’re only born with one suit, your skin, and you have to maintain it,” he says.
His presentation is part earth science lesson — covering subjects such as the size of the Earth compared with that of the sun, and the light spectrum — part skin-care consultation and part pure entertainment (he begins each presentation by rocking a few riffs on an electric guitar).
He elicits a few outbursts of “Ew!’ and “Gross” as he shows kids examples of cancers caused by exposure to the sun, but he says these kids are old enough to know not only what cancer is, but how to spot it.
“A person dies from melanoma every hour in the U.S.,” he says. “As a dermatologist I get to save a lot of lives because people come to see me.”
Julie O’Shea, principal of Lindbergh Elementary in Mesa, says she is impressed with the presentation and hopes Captain Cutaneum will visit the school again. “It’s high-level information done in a very interesting way,” she says.
Captain Cutaneum was created by East Valley dermatologist Ruskin Lines, who also publishes a Captain Cutaneum comic book and is creating an interactive Web site for kids at www.captaincutaneum.com.
He said he had the idea years ago to start educating people about sun damage prevention and is happy to be getting into schools and talking to middle school kids. “I want to get to them before junior high and high school when they have been blinded by the beauty of the tan,” he says.
Tips from Captain Cutaneum Stay in the shade: “That means there’s the sun, there’s me, but there’s something in between us.”
Wear a hat: “A big, wide one is better than a little tiny cap.”
Wear protective clothing.
Wear sunscreen.
Wear sunglasses: “Protecting your eyes is just as important as protecting your skin.”
Please add your comments, but follow these guidelines to keep this a safe, credible place for discussing the news: