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Correspondence
May 2004

Getting Sunburned, or How to Harm My Younger Siblings?

Arch Dermatol. 2004;140(5):623. doi:10.1001/archderm.140.5.623

For a child, a recently born younger sibling could be a rival. There are different ways of harming this little brother or sister.1,2 One strange variation of these ways is described on the basis of a drawing (Figure 1): An 8-year-old girl was asked to draw herself and her family lying on the beach practicing sun protection. The girl explained the drawing: "I am lying on the left, well protected by the shade of an umbrella and a palm tree; in addition, I have applied sunscreen to my skin. My mother, on the right, is also well protected by 2 palm trees and she has also used sunscreen. My father, lying to the left of my mother, does not get much shade from the palm tree. In addition, he hasn't used any sunscreen, so he is getting sunburnt on his belly. Finally, my little, recently born brother has no shade at all. Nobody has applied any sunscreen to his skin; the bottle with sunscreen is by my side, he has only his life-saver. Therefore, he is sunburnt all over. Well, I don't like him very much . . . . . . I hate him!"

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