Spring Break
Tanning-bed autonomy dangerous for minors
Editorial Board
Issue date: 4/1/09 Section: Commentary
It only took a year for Miss Florida Teen USA, Kayla Collier, to get skin cancer from the harsh light of a tanning bed. Collier began tanning when she was 15 to prepare for pageants. After a year of lying under the ultra-violet rays, Collier's mother found a mark on her daughter's back that turned out to be skin cancer.
Now, 17 states, including sunny Florida and Hawaii, are considering laws that would ban minors from tanning. The law would permit teens to tan with parental or medical consent. However, parental consent should not be a factor in the law. There are some skin conditions and mood disorders such as depression that may cause doctors to prescribe limited tanning sessions. But parents shouldn't be able to allow their 14 year-old to tan so he or she can look bronze and beautiful like the women in magazines. Collier's mother was aware that she was tanning and her daughter still got skin cancer. Parental consent is not a deterrent for cancer.
According to ABC News, "If the new law passes, it would be among the strictest in the nation. Only one state, Wisconsin, bans teens 16 and under from using tanning beds, though a handful of others - California, New York and New Jersey among them - ban the under-14 crowd. At least 29 states have some regulations governing tanning by minors."
Children under the age of 16 are still very ignorant and think in the moment. They are thinking about their school dance that is coming up or how they will look in a bathing suit when they are on a family vacation. Not too many 14-year-olds are speculating about melanoma while they are basking in the purple glow of the tanning lamps. Children under 16 are still very young. It would be akin to a teen getting cosmetic surgery.
Parental consent should be used for teenagers 16- to 18-years-old and then after the age of 18, people are legal adults and can decide the consequences of tanning for themselves. Teens are still growing up at that point and don't always make the best decisions. There is a feeling of invincibility when people are that young and it seems very unlikely and even impossible that cancer could ever affect them.
Tanning is an unhealthy vice for people of any age. But those over 18 have more knowledge about the consequences than a 15-year-old. More than a million people are diagnosed with some form of skin cancer every year. Young teens shouldn't be included in those statistics. There should be legislation banning children under the age of 16 from using a tanning bed. They are starting to bronze their skin before they lose their childhood glow.
Now, 17 states, including sunny Florida and Hawaii, are considering laws that would ban minors from tanning. The law would permit teens to tan with parental or medical consent. However, parental consent should not be a factor in the law. There are some skin conditions and mood disorders such as depression that may cause doctors to prescribe limited tanning sessions. But parents shouldn't be able to allow their 14 year-old to tan so he or she can look bronze and beautiful like the women in magazines. Collier's mother was aware that she was tanning and her daughter still got skin cancer. Parental consent is not a deterrent for cancer.
According to ABC News, "If the new law passes, it would be among the strictest in the nation. Only one state, Wisconsin, bans teens 16 and under from using tanning beds, though a handful of others - California, New York and New Jersey among them - ban the under-14 crowd. At least 29 states have some regulations governing tanning by minors."
Children under the age of 16 are still very ignorant and think in the moment. They are thinking about their school dance that is coming up or how they will look in a bathing suit when they are on a family vacation. Not too many 14-year-olds are speculating about melanoma while they are basking in the purple glow of the tanning lamps. Children under 16 are still very young. It would be akin to a teen getting cosmetic surgery.
Parental consent should be used for teenagers 16- to 18-years-old and then after the age of 18, people are legal adults and can decide the consequences of tanning for themselves. Teens are still growing up at that point and don't always make the best decisions. There is a feeling of invincibility when people are that young and it seems very unlikely and even impossible that cancer could ever affect them.
Tanning is an unhealthy vice for people of any age. But those over 18 have more knowledge about the consequences than a 15-year-old. More than a million people are diagnosed with some form of skin cancer every year. Young teens shouldn't be included in those statistics. There should be legislation banning children under the age of 16 from using a tanning bed. They are starting to bronze their skin before they lose their childhood glow.
Viewing Comments 1 - 5 of 5
John
posted 4/01/09 @ 12:13 PM EST
Hey, it's not a headline
Stephen J.
posted 4/01/09 @ 1:31 PM EST
It could make good sense to completely prohibit children under 18 from using tanning salons. Of course, this would not prevent such children from using their parents' tanning beds at home, but that can be argued ad infinitum. (Continued…)
Jenee
posted 4/01/09 @ 10:12 PM EST
Noone should lose a daughter because she used a tanning bed! Please help save a life! Visit our skin cancer resource center at aquatan.tv
The Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency has found that the chances of developing the deadliest form of skin cancer, a melanoma, increased by 22% with just one trip to a tanning bed. (Continued…)
taylornicole.
posted 4/13/09 @ 11:46 PM EST
Omg people should mind their own business about what people let their kids do. I'm 14 and tanned since 13, my moms ohdee strict and she lets me do it. (Continued…)
AshleyRose.
posted 6/10/09 @ 9:13 AM EST
I think that it's okay for kid's to tan, but I also think that they should have a certain time limit. I am 14 and occasionally tan. My mother only let's me go for 15 minute's a week. (Continued…)
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