Young people and tanning booths?

I’m sure that most of you have heard about the “tan mom.” The woman who tans ALOT. Accused of bringing her child into a tanning booth. The accusation came about after school officials noticed sun burns on the child’s skin. “Tan mom” maintains she has never taken her child into a tanning booth. The case is still under investigation.

Did you know that teenagers have a 70% higher chance of develop skin cancer if they tan in tanning salons at a young age?

To protect teens, tanning salons have restrictions in place that require I.d and proof of age in order to tan at their facilities. Parental consent is required, (present at the time of) in order to allow use of the facilities. 18 years old is minimum age.

The today show ran an undercover segment where they sent 2 young ladies to 6 salons to tan. They had them specifically state that they were underage and that no parent was with them.

3 of the places  shut them down immediately, no negotiations, “You are underage, no.”

The other 3 places violated the rules and allowed them to tan. One went so far as to tell the accompanying friend “It’s ok that you are not the parent, you can sign for her”.

Comically enough this clerk tried to deny it “You weren’t there to see what happened, she stated she was her guardian” he said, to which the reporter replied “I did see, I was watching through a hidden camera.”

One of the other businesses stated that the clerk that allowed the violation was fired because she knew the rules and broke them.

When asked how could they put a stop to this, authorities stated that heavier fines and penalties need to be implemented. Currently there are small fines going up to $100 for infractions.

As a small business in this economy, if you get caught once and have to pay a $100 fine, yet you get away with it 10 other times and make $1,000, it’s probably worth the risk. Scruples and ethics not included.

If you are a young person, or the parent of one, watch out for those tanning booths. Skin cancer is deadly.

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