Is A Summer Glow Worth It?
Tanning is a terrible habit for people throughout the country.
December 15, 2017
Picture this: it’s a beautiful summer day, the waves in a nearby pool bouncing off the walls, the sun is shining, and someone is indoors, lying inside of a 100 degree death trap with UV rays gleaming on their face leaving them with glorious leathery skin and a load of wrinkles. But hey, at least their skin is now slightly tinted after sweating profusely for 15 minutes. This is the reality of tanning beds.
Exposing yourself to the danger of tanning beds is one of the worst choices you can make. Your skin has its own protective layer to guard your body against harmful rays called the epidermis. When the rays get past this layer, they penetrate deep into your blood vessels and nerves-this can compromise your immune system as well. According to skincancer.org, over 419,000 cases of skin cancer linking to indoor tanning are diagnosed every year. We are just aiding in the development of melanoma.
“I don’t understand why girls or guys feel the need to change the way they look,” senior Connor Portlock said.
On average, women spend around $15,000 on makeup in their lifetime according to people.com. It is nothing short of shocking that getting a darker complexion through life-threatening methods is still a fad considering these numbers. Tanning beds cause premature aging which is something everyone obviously would prefer to avoid. With all of this money spent on products to make you feel pretty, why expose yourself to something that will make you look 40 when you’re 20?
“I freak out that I’m going to get cancer when I go tanning but being tan makes me happy,” junior Morgan Harwell said.
The controversy between pale skin and tan skin has always been around. Some people prefer one or the other and some really don’t care. If we are all the same on the inside, it shouldn’t matter regardless. Is having a summer glow really worth a deadly disease, chemotherapy, and possibly several painful procedures as well as scars that never disappear? Rethink your decision the next time you are contemplating whether or not you want to use a tanning bed.
