How to Scare Your Teenage Daughter out of the Tanning Bed
Logic and reason not doing the trick in convincing your teen that tanning beds are skin cancer incubators? Maybe it's time to try some new tactics.
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Getting healthy doesn't have to be a chore or a bore, as you'll see in these Howcast videos.
You Will Need
- Tanning bed stats
- Sad movies
- Skin aging facts
- Spray-tan gift card
- Blackmail
Steps
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While this video is awesome, it didn't go to medical school. Always consult your doctor for actual medical advice.
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Step 1
Text her alarming stats
Whenever you have a spare second, text her a new, alarming stat about tanning beds. She may capitulate just to stop you from clogging her cell.
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When she's applying mascara, casually mention that the lights used in tanning beds can cause eye cancer, too.
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Step 2
Have a movie night
Have a family movie night featuring 10-hanky tearjerkers with heroines who meet an untimely demise. She'll quickly realize two things: Love means never having to say you're sorry, and dying young totally sucks.
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Step 3
Appeal to her vanity
Appeal to her vanity. Ultraviolet radiation -- whether from the sun or a tanning bed -- accounts for about 90 percent of premature skin aging, which leads to wrinkles. Use digital imaging software to predict her face circa 2040 -- the uncanny resemblance to a prune may terrify her more than any threats of death and disease.
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Step 4
Draw some comparisons
See how she likes accessorizing with gas masks. Let her know that the International Agency for Research on Cancer has declared tanning beds as deadly as mustard gas.
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Step 5
Provide an alternative
Try a little bribery. Get her a spray-tan gift card so she'll see there's a safer way to look like a bronzed goddess. Isn't orange blotchy skin better than melanoma?
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Step 6
Blackmail her
Nothing else working? Prey on every teen's greatest fear. Tell her that if she doesn't stop visiting the tanning salon, you'll friend everyone she knows on Facebook.
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A study of college students who tan despite knowing the dangers found that tanning can become an addiction.
