Minors Should
Not be Tanning
Melanoma is the most dangerous type of
skin cancer. It is the leading cause of death from skin disease. In woman’s
health magazine an article compares tanning beds to coffins and it is reported
that “Oncologists now believe they are to blame for the
alarming spike among young women in lethal melanoma cases—the second most common
cancer in adults under 30” (Cassidy).
This is why it should be illegal for minors to tan in UV tanning beds
until they are 18 even with parental consent in every state.
The laws currently written are too weak to keep teenagers from
tanning. If you can’t buy or smoke cigarettes
until your 18 and you can’t drink until you’re 21 then there needs to be a more
strict law restricting minors from not to tan.
It is completely dangerous and there are too many melanoma cases in
young adults that have been tanning since a young age and many Doctors agree. The
current law in Ohio California United
States
In woman’s health magazine Meg Cassidy says “A big part of the problem:
Many women think catching indoor rays is a harmless—or worse, healthy—part of
their beauty routine.” This is very
true. Young girls and boys are still
trying to find themselves and become confident with their natural beauty and if
one persons skin is pale and all of their friends are tanning they may feel
like they aren’t as beautiful as them or it may be they just want to be doing
what everyone else is doing. Young
adults are very influenced by the people they surround themselves with and can
control what they do. We also see
celebrities support tanning on reality TV shows such as “The Jersey Shore” and
“Keeping up with the Kardashians.”
Just like people who smoke cigarettes they know it’s bad for them but
they still do it. That is fine if they are
the appropriate age to make those decisions.
But since tanning is harmful too they should make the age limit the
same. And once the given age they can
decide to do what they want with their body.
That’s why it would be very hard to completely get rid of tanning and
that’s not the goal. The goal is just to
get a higher age requirement.
Even a tanning salons they have a sign in sheet that states the
following:
Warning
Some harmful
changes which may result from repeated over exposure to UVA/UVB radiation
include: cataracts, skin cancer, premature aging, possible photosensitive
reactions when using perfumes, cosmetics, and certain drugs including
antibiotics and birth control pills.
IF YOU ARE 17 YEARS OLD OR YOUNGER, YOU
MUST PROVIDE WRITTEN CONSENT SIGNED BY A PARENT OR GUARDIAN.
Anything with a warning label should be taken very seriously. They have to put it on something that is
visible for you to see. Also so a
tanning company isn’t reliable for any sickness you may receive.
In the environmental health perspectives magazine a
statistic is shown that “Melanoma, a tumor of the cells that produce the skin
pigment melanin, is the rarest but deadliest type, accounting for 75% of skin
cancer deaths worldwide” (Schmidt). 75 percent is about two thirds of people
who tan, this is absurd. A lot of people
think oh it won’t happen to them or they have dark pigmentation I won’t get it;
it doesn’t matter, anyone can get skin cancer.
Anything can happen in life before a blink of an eye you could be sick with
a disease or cancer, that’s just the sad truth.
But when you hear stories about young people sick it’s devastating.
So why increase your chance of getting skin cancer by
tanning indoor when you are so young. Or
even yet why make it legal? The government
can help stop this and yes 18 is still young, but they are considered legal at
18 so that’s when you should legally tan.
Have you ever watched the famous YouTube clip Dear 16-year-old me? It’s filled with real people and their
stories. They talk about melanoma skin
cancer, what it is, how it spreads, to check your skin once a month, and how
it’s the most common disease found for young adults. One of my favorite lines of the clip is “It’s
not just skin cancer... well it is, but it’s not just the cut it out and it
will be find kind, unfortunately.” It’s
the kind of cancer that you have to catch it before it spreads. It can go to your liver, lungs, and
brain. And if you don’t catch it early
you can only have up to five years to live.
The video is passing the message to young adults about using sunscreen,
and avoiding the tanning beds. It is very powerful and I encourage readers to
watch it or pass it on to someone you care about that is 16 or soon to be.
Informing people is a huge thing because they might
have never heard or known about something that can change your life or even
kill you. Young adults please take this
message into consideration and never say it won’t happen to you. Even though the law isn’t what it should be
right now, we can still help others not to tan and encourage them to try and
persuade someone else as well. Minors
need to stay away from tanning salons, and the facts show exactly why. Bottom line skin cancer is deadly. Need I say more? If dying at a young age because of tanning
doesn’t scare you, I don’t know what else would. Tanning is not a necessity. Natural beauty will always be the in thing,
and if you feel better being tan there are a bunch of alternatives. Such as self tanner lotion, and spray tans. So at least try something else besides indoor
tanning while you are young.
Works Cited
Cassidy, Meg. "Skin Cancer Kills." Women's Health 3 Jan.
2013: n. pag. Print.
Schmidt, Charles W. "UA Radiation & Skin
Cancer: The Science Behind Age Restrictions for Tanning Beds." Environmental
Health Perspectives 1 Aug. 2012: n. pag. Print.
No comments:
Post a Comment