Restrictions Leave Tanning Beds Cold

The end of beach season usually means it’s time for the tanning beds to begin warming up, however many UGA women are choosing to leave the beds cold.
 
The past two years has brought about many changes in the tanning industry. In Georgia many tanners were affected by the tanning tax that was imposed by the new healthcare bill. In California, Gov. Jerry Brown took tanning restrictions to a whole new level when he signed a bill into law in October that prohibits anyone under the age of 18 from using the tanning bed.
 
Although the law has set the highest limit on an age requirement, there have been age restrictions in states like Texas, keeping children under the age of 16 out of beds. Thirty other states have passed laws prohibiting the use of tanning beds for young adults. Some states even require signed permission from their parents before stepping into a tanning bed.
Supporters of tanning beds still claim to recognize that tanning beds potentially cause skin damage from the type of radiation used in the beds, eventually leading to melanoma, which is a skin cancer that can be fatal. Studies have shown that early use of tanning salons by minors can increase the risk of cancer.
 
Yet why are these beds still so popular among young teens and even adults if people know the risk? Girls at the University of Georgia still crave tan skin because of cosmetic reasons.
 
“Girls love tanning because it makes you look skinny, and it is so much easier to get tan in a bed rather than on the beach, especially when you live in Athens,” Sarah Schwaemmle, a 20 year old at the University of Georgia said after hearing the new ban in California, “we know it is harmful, but we would rather be tan than pale.”
 
The facts are out and the research has proven that tanning radiation harms your skin. Some teens have taken into consideration the harm that can be done to their skin before resting in a tanning bed.
 
Demi Folds, a third year at the University of Georgia praises the governments decision by saying, “I do not use the tanning bed, I know its effects and I would way rather be safe than sorry”.  With options other than the tanning salon available, more teens are coming to prefer bronzing lotion to radiation.
 
Better education and bans like the one in California may help minors and adults everywhere realize the harm of the tanning salon and keep them out of harm, even if that means teens risk being pale for the winter.