title: Let schools do it! Helping schools find a role in cancer prevention.
abstract: Health, in its purest sense, is not the primary mission of the nation's K-12 schools, so why should schools feel obligated to address cancer education? The nation's educators are under tremendous pressure to prepare students to pass tests in English language arts and mathematics. As a result, health education and physical education are often assigned third-class status in many of the nation's schools, despite numerous studies supporting the connection between health and academic achievement. Is there a place for cancer prevention education in today's K-12 schools? This commentary explores existing structures that affect cancer prevention education and offers suggestions to improve K-12 health education initiatives.
authors.affiliation: American School Health Association, Bethesda, Maryland, USA. lapd8082@gmail.com
authors.forename: Linda L
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Morse
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D006266:Health Education / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006801:Humans; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000517:prevention & control*; D009937:Organizational Objectives; D011322:Primary Prevention; D012572:School Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration*