California Bans Tanning Beds for Under 18 Years Old
 

Minors in the state of California will no longer be allowed to use tanning beds after Governor Jerry Brown signed a bill on Sunday prohibiting anyone under the age of 18 from using ultraviolet tanning devices.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44837627...uty/?gt1=43001

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It can be argued that these types of laws protect us from ourselves and protect us from others.

If people need laws to tell them to stop ruining their children's bodies with tanning beds, so be it. People can still ruin their children's bodies with obsessive sun tanning. Have at it.

So is this just because of the UV rays or also some of the same thing that drives some businesses to prohibit kids from using hot tubs as well?

I've been in a tanning bed once - it was mighty hot.

It's the anti-orange movement for kids. :p

LOL. I only ask because the one time I went I felt like I was being cooked from the inside out. Since I didn't get any "results" (but it made me feel itchy - doin' it wrong?) I never went back but I know that some businesses (hotels, water parks) don't like children in their hot tubs because of the "cooking from the inside out" thing.

I don't know if I should LOL that comment or sarcastically thank you for reminding me of that scene which I now can't get out of my head.

Yup!! I know exactly what you're talking about and I agree. Scared the bejeezus out of me.

This scene?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4bnqMhmrJs

Not watching!! NOT WATCHING!!! I saw it once and never need to see it again. But yes... orange skin is ugly.

This reminded me of the scene in I Still Know What You Did Last Summer

Not as disgusting as the Final Destination scene, but still.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XtcANkUtjOc

Meh, I grew up with a tanning bed in my house. Its not really them that make you orange as the products that some people use with them and spray tans. That being said, the ones today are a lot stronger than the ones we had around 1985. I wouldn't be against it however, if there was a way to get parental consent or override. At least for some people, it really does help eczema.

Back in the last century when the closest thing we had to a tanning bed were space blankets (think 1970's). My younger sister and her best friend came up with a genius idea (or so they thought) for tanning quickly. They rubbed themselves in Crisco shortening (yes, shortening!) and laid out on space blankets for 3 1/2 hours. The result was about as gruesome as anything Final Destination could come with. LOL. Unfortunately you can't ban stupidity.

From a personal standpoint, because I rather dislike tanning beds, I'm all for this.

I lived in California for most of my life - the extent to which I heard "Oh-em-gee, I look so PASTY, better hit the tanning bed again, MOM I NEED MONEY!" was a little ridiculous. Sadly, I heard it from people my age from about age 15 on. It was really dumb.

That said... I don't particularly like the government telling us what to do. It really ought to be up to the parents to say "No, that's unhealthy"... but then again, from what I've seen, the current mentality for a good chunk of parents is to just give in and let their kids have whatever they want just so they don't have to deal with the whining. The minors really aren't old enough to know that the choices they're making now could have consequences for the rest of their lives, and it really should be the parents' job to establish limits and teach moderation and whatnot. It doesn't seem like that's happening, though, so I guess that's why the government feels the need to step in?

I guess I've got really ambiguous feelings towards this kind of thing. I'm an adult. If I want to tan myself 'til I fry or stuff myself with Big Macs, that's my choice and I really dislike when other people try to control what I do. But at the same time I also really dislike when parents allow their 10-year-old child to eat McDonald's every day and tan every other day, and then turn around and complain about how they're overweight and wrinkly. But even more than that, I dislike when the child is screwed over because the parent could never grow the balls to say "No."

...I really don't know why I wrote this, all it did was show how flip-floppy I am when it comes to this kind of thing. :p

Given that some tanning beds cause skin cancer, I guess this is in the same category of stopping under 18s from smoking

I'm all for government stepping in when it's obviously necessary that many parents don't make the best decisions for their children (common sense is not that common actually). When it comes to parenting these days, I'm a cynic. Some should not be parents at all. Lots of people are just having babies, so why should the kids suffer?