Grade 12 students throughout British Columbia are pledging to forgo tanning for prom this year as part of the Tanning is Out Tan Free Grad challenge. By participating in the Tan Free Grad challenge, students are letting others know that tanning is not cool. Kayla, a participant in the Tan Free Grad challenge shared her views with us on indoor tanning and why this issue needs more attention.
We live in a society that values beauty at almost all costs. It doesn’t matter what it does to you, because you look good. People don’t think about the consequences of what they are doing to themselves. This is an issue brought forth to me by the use of indoor tanning beds.
Even the occasional use of indoor tanning beds, between the ages of 15-35, raises your chances of developing Melanoma by 75%. To me, that’s a little close for comfort. If you knew something had a high likelihood of increasing the risk of something as sobering as cancer, why would you continue? The answers we got from our peers in defense of tanning were often backed by reasons that have been proven to be myths. We’ve been told that it makes you look good, that it makes your acne go away, it’s relaxing, and the list goes on. The facts stand strong; tanning is simply damage to your skin. Skin damage isn’t something that goes away, it doesn’t repair itself, and you’re stuck with it. I would like to challenge people to take a few minutes and think about what you are doing to your skin. It protects you, are you protecting it?
As a secondary school, Caledonia has joined the “Tanning is Out” campaign sponsored by the Canadian Cancer Society. Our role is to lay out the facts, and encourage grade 12 students to commit themselves to not tanning for prom. We promote sun protection, avoidance of indoor tanning, and knowledge of the effects tanning can leave on your body. Educating the students has been a major element of our campaign because we believe early awareness leads to healthy decisions. It has been apparent from the very beginning that we have tremendous support from our fellow classmates, teachers, and citizens of Terrace.
However, the main goal of this campaign isn’t just to keep people from tanning for prom. We feel that tanning has such huge dangers and risks that it needs to be regulated. There have been voluntary guidelines set out for tanning beds, and studies almost unanimously show that they aren’t followed at all. This brings us to the legislation in the Capital Regional District on Vancouver Island, where indoor tanning has been banned for anyone under the age of 18. It also requires people that appear to be under the age of 25 to present identification. The Canadian Medical Association has put forth a motion to ban tanning beds to all Canadian minors. This idea of keeping minors out of tanning beds isn’t new, or area specific. The medical community has realized that it is significant enough to push for legislation. There is legislation banning and regulating the usage of alcohol to prevent abuse, so why not tanning? They both cause health problems, they are both addictive, and now tanning needs to be recognized as an issue that needs the same attention.
It is my sincere wish that this issue would be given the attention that it needs and deserves. It affects everyone, our youth, our adults, our seniors. When someone gets skin cancer, it doesn’t just affect them. It affects their family, friends, and community. Education is vital, if people don’t know the effects of something, how can they avoid it? If we can prevent even one person from potentially getting skin cancer, or any type of disease for that matter, our job has been well done.
Kayla, Tan Free Grad Leader
Terrace BC
Photo Credit: Janine Workman (Molly and Kayla, Grade 12 Students)