Teenaged girls and tanning beds - opinions?

R

red_mct

Cathlete
Ladies,

I was in the grocery store last night and I saw this incredibly beautiful teenaged girl walking around with her mother. She was just gorgeous - in great shape with marvelous facial features. However, she was very, very tanned, and I assume by the paleness of her mother that this was from tanning in a bed as opposed to some lovely winter vacation. I was surprised because I thought the tan (and the horrible whitish lipstick) really detracted from her natural beauty.

And then I thought, what kind of mom lets you go to tanning beds when you are in your teen years? I know some ladies here are very into tanning, but I just think it's so bad for your skin and she is likely to really pay for it later.

So my question - do you or would you allow a teenaged daughter (or son, I guess, but I'm guessing boys aren't much into this) to go to a tanning bed, and why or why not?

Curiously,
Marie
 
As long as my DD lives under our roof, she would never be allowed to do that. She is not into that anyhow. Her and her "emo" friends prefer to be pale anyhow. LOL!

Charlotte~~
 
Marie--interesting topic! My niece has been using tanning beds for as long as I can remember. She started when she was 13 or 14 and she is now 21. IMO she looks terrible. Like you observed, the tan detracts from her appearance--it's so dark and deep that it looks unnatural.

I do not have children, but if I did, tanning beds would be strictly off limits. I guess it's the nurse in me, too. Aside from the obvious health risks, I can't believe people would actually get naked and lay in a bed that had just been used by some other naked person--eeeewwwwwww:eek:. The mere though grosses me out.

There have been so many interesting and thought provoking threads lately regarding plastic surgery and other cosmetic procedures, as well as threads about fashion and beauty magazines and how they influence us. It's curious to me how, on one hand, we will blast the magazines for creating a standard of beauty that no one can live up to, and on the other hand, we do everything we can to propagate those standards by succumbing to the very pressures we say we should avoid.

Michele
 
> It's curious to me how,
>on one hand, we will blast the magazines for creating a
>standard of beauty that no one can live up to, and on the
>other hand, we do everything we can to propagate those
>standards by succumbing to the very pressures we say we should
>avoid.
>
>Michele

Nicely said!!

I went on a tanning bed once, at a spa, when I was a teenager. My skin felt dry and crackly for days. I would not want my daughter to do it, if I had a daughter that is!

Sparrow

Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming ‘Wow - what a ride!’ — Peter Sage
 
i don't think once in a blue moon is a big deal, but going to often is not to good for you,just like going out in the sun without protection is not that good for you. and that goes as standard not just teens.i wouldn't do it personally b/c i would be afraid that i get closed in them or something LOL.

kassia



When they discover the center of the universe, a lot of people will be
disappointed to discover they are not it -- Bernard Bailey
 
I have absolutely nothing to back this up, but isn't the exposure in a tanning bed even more dangerous/strong than from direct sun? Regardless, I would never let my daughters go to a tanning salon. My dad had a melanoma removed two years ago, and that brought home the reality of skin cancer. It's really sobering to have to mark "yes" on the form at the dermatologist's indicating that you have a family history of skin cancer. I feel lucky for my girls that they're growing up at a time when we have a better understanding of the dangers of sun exposure and better sunscreens for protection.

Gosh -- I guess I feel a little passionate about this topic! Short answer: Not on my watch!

Allison
 
Oh boy! This topic flashed me back to high school. Gee, thanks :)! A lot of the girls that I went to school with went to them year round. I wonder how they look now 10 years later???

Karin
 
I do not believe in tanning beds and it doubtly goes for my dd. She has never ask to do it, for she only wants a tan in the summer and the sun can do that. And the sun is danger enough! I just thing they are dangerous and people do them year around. I am not bashing those who do it but I don't thing it is good for the skin. And it is disturbing to me how my mom for the past 5 years has gone to the tanning bed at least five or six times a week. She looks alot older than her age because of it. Her face seems to be more wrinkled and the tan color just doesn't look good. I think those who smile and their teeth blind you they have too much of a tan on their face.


I wonder why people don't just wait for summer time to get a tan outside and definitely use sunscreen.


kim
 
>Oh boy! This topic flashed me back to high school. Gee,
>thanks :)! A lot of the girls that I went to school with
>went to them year round. I wonder how they look now 10 years
>later???
>
>Karin

I knew a girl in high school who used to spread baby oil on her body and lay in the sun until she *blistered*. I'd like to see her now as well!

Sparrow

Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming ‘Wow - what a ride!’ — Peter Sage
 
With all of the "fake" tan options out there, no one should opt for the real thing as far as I am concerned. There is a commercial here locally for a tanning company and at the end of the ad they say, "please tan responsibly". What the heck does that mean?

Sun exposure ages skin period, whether it is artificial bulbs or the real thing.
 
Oh and I forgot to mention, what about the smell? I went to a tanning bed twice in my life at age 14 (before I knew better) and my skin smelled like it was burning. I had to take a shower as soon as I got home because I itched and because the smell was nauseating!
 
The only circumstances that I would allow it is if we were travelling somewhere tropical (as if!:) ;-) ), I would allow tanning to establish a light base tan so the likelyhood of burning while on vacation would be diminished.
My 3 DDs know that I vehemently disapprove of vanity tanning (I think they should sell cigarettes at tanning salons for your one stop cancer shopping) and I'm sure it's deterent enough for my Girls to not even ask so as to avoid the dreaded lecture. There is a group of grade 12 girls at my daughters school that look like characatures with their overbleached teeth and hair and their curiously dark tans, like Malibu Barbie gone seriously wrong. DD shakes her head at them and is on a completely different wavelength from that...
As far as tanning beds goes; to each their own, but not for me and mine, now sun worshipping at the beach on a July afternoon, that's a different story.......with SPF 99 of course;) :7

Take Care
Laurie
 
I follow my kids around with a sunblock with an SPF as high as I can get it. We get so much sun here in Tucson, tanning beds are unneeded and yet there are tanning salons. I am not a fan and would discourage my kids from using one. There's no such thing as a healthy tan and melanoma is one of the worse cancers, fatal if not caught early so I veto the tanning beds. My husband is a sun lover and bakes himself as often as he can. I wish he wouldn't but he's an adult. The kids have to listen to me and they have beautiful pale skin.
Bobbi "Chicks rule!"http://www.clicksmilies.com/s0105/tiere/animal-smiley-032.gif
Tell me what you plan to do with your one wild and precious life? -Mary Oliver
http://www.clicksmilies.com/s0105/linie/smiley-linie-004.gif
 
It means the same thing as drinking and smoking responsibly. I discourage my daughter from doing that, and she is too busy as she is in nursing school.
 
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