As a sixteen year old female, Kelly felt the pressure to tan like many other teens. She went undercover as a CBC student News Day reporter to reveal the truth behind tanning salons. In this guest blog, she shares her findings and the dangers associated with indoor tanning.

I am a typical sixteen year old female. I strive to look good and feel confident. A year ago, I would have considered turning to a tanning bed to achieve what I was told a “healthy glow”. I always saw my favourite celebrities sporting a dark tan and I felt ashamed of my pale skin. I wanted to try out a tanning bed however my parents never allowed me to do so – and thank goodness they didn’t!

I recently took part in a journalism project where I discovered the unfortunate truth behind tanning salons. Working as a CBC student News Day reporter, I had the opportunity to go undercover into numerous indoor tanning facilities. Very shortly into my investigation I learned that many tanning salons were not following Health Canada’s Guidelines (which state that a waiver is required for individuals under the age of 16 to use tanning beds). Tanning salon operators ignored the waiver; even though I made it clear I was underage. I was told that no consent by my parents was required . I was also encouraged to tan more than once in a 24 hour period which doctors and dermatologists both consider extremely dangerous.

If there is one thing that I’ve learned it’s that there is no such thing as a healthy glow. There are various statistics one can argue, however there is absolutely no denying that there is a relationship between the harmful rays emitted by tanning beds and skin cancer. Think about it this way! Kids my age, hop into tanning beds left right and center for an awfully vain purpose and are potentially increasing their risk of developing melanoma skin cancer by 75%! Why would anyone increase their risk of developing the most deadly form of skin cancer on purpose?

We as teens are increasing our risk of skin cancer and the worst part is, we don’t even know it. It sickens me that this industry is targeted towards ill informed teens (like myself a only a short year ago).

The World Health Organization has suggested that all countries impose a ban on the use of tanning beds for individuals under the age of 18 . Ireland, France, Australia, New Brunswick, some states within the US and the Capital Regional District on Vancouver Island have imposed bans.

I understand that society portrays being tanned as being beautiful however this is a mentality we need to change. Embrace your natural skin.

Kelly, St. Thomas More Collegiate

In this guest blog post, Leanna Hill of Volunteer Victoria interviews Tan Free Grad Leader Ally from Lambrick Park Secondary School. She shares her volunteer experience volunteering for the Tan Free Grad campaign and give the scoop on indoor tanning.

Have you heard the scoop on fake tanning? Did you know that the province is currently considering banning the use of tanning beds by minors (under 18)?

Ally & her fellow grads at Lambrick Park Secondary sure know a lot about it. In fact, Ally and her friend Jen lobbied for a tan-free grad as part of a province-wide Canadian Cancer Society campaign – and won with the most grade 12s in the Vancouver Island Region pledging NOT to fake-tan for grad!

You may or may not know about the risks of fake-tanning, but the Canadian Cancer Society can fill you in: “Melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer, is one of the most common cancers in young people between the ages of 15 and 29, and is mostly preventable. Research done by the International Agency for Research on Cancer shows that being exposed to UV radiation from indoor tanning equipment before the age of 35 increases the risk of melanoma by 75%.”

The campaign that Ally & Jen ran at Lambrick Park is a great example of young people getting involved in a cause they care about, volunteering their time, and getting their peers on board. I wrote to Ally to ask her if she would consent to being interviewed. She agreed, and the following questions will let you in on their experience.

What motivated you to get involved in this campaign?

The Canadian Cancer Society came into my leadership class about two months ago and did a spiel on what they were all about and about their upcoming projects. It seemed like a neat opportunity to get involved. Also having lost my uncle to cancer a few years back it seemed like a good place to start in terms of picking a cause I cared about.

How many volunteer hours do you think you’ve spent getting this campaign together?

Throughout the 2 week campaign I think we probably worked between 10 and 15 hours.

What did the process look like at your school?

When we began the process we were a little wary of where to start as we were given the go ahead to go in whatever direction we pleased. We decided to go with a fairly conservative approach, at first putting up posters and then setting up a table during lunch so people could come up, ask questions, and hopefully sign the pledge. For our final push, Jen and I put together a slide show presentation and presented it during a grad assembly. (That was the major success piece!)

You’ve won the award for highest grad pledges for tan-free grad in the Vancouver Island Region, how do you think you were able to do that?

I think that because we are such a small school and that most of the students know each other was a large contributing factor. Both Jen and I felt comfortable going up to our peers and telling them about the Tan Free campaign. Also we have a few teachers who are very keen on winning prizes, no matter what they happen to be, so they were very helpful when it came to providing us with what we needed, for example, a grad wide assembly to present at!

How will you celebrate that award?

No plans of celebration yet, although I do know quite a few students who are stoked for the photo booth at our dinner dance that we won – so I’m sure they will take a few celebratory photos!

Has anything surprised you about being involved with the Canadian Cancer Society’s Tan Free Grad campaign?

I was actually very surprised about multiple things along the way. I couldn’t believe the support that we were given, not only by our peers when they signed the pledge, but by the teachers and the Cancer Society volunteers – especially Nancy! It was great to feel that our efforts were actually helping and that people took the time to listen to what we had to say. It wasn’t just the support that shocked me though, I mean after all our school is great at helping out, but even I couldn’t believe some of the facts and dangers that went along with indoor tanning! It’s crazy how damaging it can be.

What have you gotten out of this experience?

At the beginning, to be honest, I just saw it as a neat opportunity to get some volunteer experience through a cause that seemed to be something I could relate to. I didn’t expect to get much out of it, but I realize now it is and was a lot more than just a resume booster. I think the main thing I got out of the campaign is perspective. Not only just a new perspective on tanning, but on the whole volunteer world. Up until now, I’ve only been involved in a few programs that are outside of school. I didn’t realize how much is out there! It really gave me a new insight for volunteering and when I have more time, I truly want to become more involved in other opportunities.

Amazing!

So congratulations to the graduating class at Lambrick Park Secondary School, who pledged to go tan-free! And congratulations to Ally, Jen, the Canadian Cancer Society and all those supporters along the way who made this happen with such success.

I’m inspired

Leanna Hill, Volunteer Victoria

Volunteer Victoria

Teens in Prince Edward Island are joining the tan-free movement. We connected with Nicole and Alicia, Grade 12 students and leaders of the Plan Not to Tan campaign at their high school in Kensington, PEI. In this guest blog post, they share with us how they encouraged fellow students to go tan-free for prom.

We attend a small school in Kensington, PEI with only about 400 students in grades 7 to 12. Our grad class this year of 90 students is one of the biggest the school has seen in recent years. With a class this size, in a school this small, there are bound to be pressures, esspecially around the time of prom. There is always that underlying false idea that, particularly girls, need to have a tan at prom to look their best. We are proud to say that half of our 2011 grad class chose not to tan for this year’s prom, thanks to our successful Plan Not to Tan campaign.

The campaign began last year as the initiative of a student whose friend’s mother had been diagnosed with skin cancer. She was passionate about informing students at our school about the dangers of indoor tanning and excessive sun exposure, thus developing the idea of Plan Not to Tan.

After the success of last year’s campaign, we decided to continue it this year. The main idea was that students in grade 12 who were attending the senior prom had the opportunity to sign a pledge sheet saying they would not use a tanning bed and would be sun safe leading up to prom. Suprisingly, half of our graduating class signed the pledge. We were taken aback, to say the least.

For this year’s campaign, we tried some tactics, such as creating our own posters, which we put up around the school. These features us wearing hospital gowns and had statemenst such as “I’m not tanning becuase I don’t like this gown” and “Not the gown you pictures yourself in at prom?”. While these were quite shocking and scary, they certainly made an impact. Many students saw these posters and began to think about what they were saying.

Our reasoning for doing this campaign is to inform our fellow grads and students about the dangers of tanning. Because we are from such a small school, our grad class is a pretty tight-knit group of individuals. Therefore, when push comes to shove, each and every person in our class cares deeply about one another. We all know how difficult it is to lose someone in our class that we all care about. Skin cancer is preventable, and consequently, so is a potential death that follows it. We do not want to lose someone else from our grad class, especially due to something that could have been prevented by simply being sun safe and having the facts. If we have convinced just one person to think about his or her actions regarding tanning, then we have done a great job.

Now that our prom has passed, we can proundly say that the majority of our grad class did not tan. It was amazing to see so many people wearing their natural glow to prom, proving that it is possible to be beautiful without a tan. The fact that so many people felt comfortable to do so made us proud; proud that we had a part in their confidence.

Our camapign was very successful this year, getting national coverage along with the Tan Free Grad campaigns across the country. We hope that Plan Not to Tan is continued for years to come, and that the number of students using tanning beds for prom keeps dwindling.

- Nicole Mountain and Alicia Silliker, 2011 Kensington Intermediate Senior High School Relay for Life Committee Co-chairs and Plan Not to Tan Campaign Coordinators