Preparing for swimsuit season, high school females, and the occasional male, are hitting the tanning salons. However, current legislation may be forcing high school students out of this pre-summer routine.
More than 30 states in the U.S. have tanning bed regulations in place, requiring parental consent and warning labels, states ncsl.org. Pennsylvania does not have such regulations, but a new bill, created in response to the rising cases of Melanoma that are found each year among young adults, pushes for parental consent.
‘The Senate approved a new law that would ban anyone under the age of 18 from getting a faux glow from UV bulbs. The legislation is now on its way to the House of Representatives, and if approved, the law would go into effect on January 1, 2011,’ said jsyk.com.
Although the state’s efforts to ‘ban the tan’ among teenagers is not yet law, many salons have already put restrictions on their youthful clientele.
MHS sophomore Allie Holland spoke about her parents’ opinions on tanning and what they are required to do when she goes to a salon.
‘Every time I sign up for a new month of tanning, one of my parents needs to sign. A parent has to sign until you’re 18 years old. They don't agree with me tanning, but they still sign because it makes me happy,’ said Holland who discussed some of what she believed to be tanning salon’s benefits.
‘It is a lot easier to go stand in a booth for 10 minutes rather than lay out in the sun for hours. It also makes it possible to be tan in the winter and you don't get tan lines,’ said Holland.
Exposure to UV rays may make a person look better on the outside, but that exposure may cause a person to feel better as well.
People who suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), a winter time condition causing a depression from lack of sunlight, may be prescribed by their doctors to go to a tanning bed. The Vitamin D that is emitted by UV rays in tanning beds can help to relieve the symptoms of SAD.
Despite the fact that tanning in a bed is a safer alternative to tanning outside in the sun, according to vanderbilt.edu, there are still many health risks that come with such a method.
One lesser-considered danger is mentioned all-tanning-beds.com: ‘Tanning beds can lead to your retina or cornea being damaged. They have also been linked to causing cataracts. The UV levels can be up to 100 times stronger than from direct sunlight.’
Teens also increase their chances of getting skin cancer such as melanoma when stepping into tanning beds. A new study by international cancer experts indicates that a person’s risk of skin cancer jumps up 75 percent if tanning beds were used before the age of 30, but some students imply that less time equates to less danger.
‘I fake tanned about four days a week for a month. I would never fake tan on a daily basis for a long time, only to get color for a dance or something,’ said Rebecca Aaron, a sophomore.
Some groups continually protest such methods though as they see salon tanning as a dangerous addictive behavior. I Hate Fake Tans, for example, is a blogging group in which tanners sometimes discuss their tanning addictions and receive support from others who
share their misfortunes or who share their distaste for the activity.