Tanning Teens
byI have to admit, I’ve faked-and-baked more than a few times over the last couple of years. It’s nice to get a head start on your summer colour so that when you hit Third Beach you don’t blind those around you with your pasty whiteness. It also feels warm, and gives you 30 minutes to yourself, listening to tunes. Yes, I understand all of these are pretty weak arguments when you look at the consequences.
As of today, teens under the age of 16 will need their parents to go with them if they want to tan at one of Canada’s largest chains of tanning parlours.
And 16- and 17-year-olds will need parental permission to tan at Fabutan. The company says the new policy will ensure that parents keep track of how much their children are tanning. [News 1130]
16 year olds go tanning? Yikes. Not only does that not sound good for your skin’s health, but when I was 16 I wasn’t getting naked for nothing. (Pause for gasps of disbelief here because you all know I grew up in Surrey). No matter how safe tanning booths are reported to be, regardless of possible melanoma badness, you don’t want to end up looking like a 50 year old leather purse when you’re 35. It kinda defeats the purpose of trying to obtain that lovely looking sun kissed look, really.
Around Vancouver you can spot numerous bronzed faces on every city block. Thing is, I’m pretty sure they’re just very smart people who’ve been able to get out of town and head someplace tropical during these very grey winter months. Being lucky enough to live downtown in the summer time I have to say, I prefer real sunshine and fresh ocean air to the stench of toasting skin and cocoa butter simmering on a Viper VHR bed 4 feet away behind that rattan wall.
8 Comments — Comments Are Closed
My daughter is 15 and she actually asked me the other day if she could go tanning because her friend has a package at some tanning place and goes all the time. Apparently her friend looks like she just came off some beach in Mexico… meanwhile she has been here in Vancouver all winter.
I, of course, told my daughter no, she is not allowed to go tanning in a tanning salon…. she can wait for the beach weather in the summer if she wants to catch a tan. 😀
I’m buying a wide-brimmed hat and huge sunglasses for this summer and doing the Chinese-hiding-from-the-sun thing. That’s because I’ll be out running everyday for at least half an hour, too, with precious little protective cover.
I’ve had a couple REALLY bad burns, and not from tanning beds. I’m tempted to go the covered-up route but I still enjoy getting some colour and feeling the sun at the beach. It’s tough since John is naturally darker skinned – I’ll never catch up and always look ghostly next to him 😛
I live in Hawaii…and my entire family is darker than I am, and they live in China. It makes me want to cry.
FlyRice – That’s cuz its just radiation burns from the sun beaming through the pollution. We glow too.
i don’t seem to ever get very dark unless i burn. i tanned for months before the wedding and went to mexico and was barely tanned. i guess this is a good thing and i also do not agree with teens in tanning beds and age limit is totally appropriate. adam is even lighter than me.
We all went tanning when we were teenagers before Grad. It was the thing to do but I got in trouble from Dad and stopped going.
Although tanning beds are generally not good for you it’s my understanding that they can help some skin problems.
[…] 16 year olds go tanning? Yikes. Not only does that not sound good for your skin?s health, but when I was 16 I wasn?t getting naked for nothing. (Pause for gasps of disbelief here because you all know I grew up in Surrey). …Tanning Teens […]