The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says one bad sunburn in childhood doubles the risk of skin cancer later in life.
So, Houston County Schools is taking the initiative by helping protect their students from the sun.
Health Service Coordinator Dana Rollins headed up the $5,000 project, which placed 34 sunscreen dispensers in the county's schools.
"You place your hand under it and it puts an ounce into your hand just like the Purell or hand sanitizers. We have one in each middle school, three in each high school and one that is portable in the high school so it can be moved around for sports based on the season," Rollins said.
As a drum major, Perry High School student Brenley Fouse uses the sunscreen daily.
"The sun was right on me yesterday, and I used the sunscreen and so I'm not as sunburned as I thought I would be," Fouse said.
Perry High School has three dispensers -- two of them are near frequently used exits and one is by the stadium.
"Walking out yesterday I stuck my hand under there and put some sunscreen on my face and my legs as I was passing by and it helped a lot. I'm never not sunburned during practice, but I wasn't yesterday," Fouse said.
"We worked with each high school and middle school administrator to make sure that we placed it in what they thought were the most highly used exits," Rollins said.
Rollins said they're working on getting 23 more dispensers for their elementary schools.