What the hell is a 13 year old doing in a tanning salon anyway?

[Grumpmeister]

Why on earth would you want to go to a tanning salon 3 times in a day for crying out loud. Ok so you are vain and dont want your acne to show but that is just plain stupidity. 

A 13-year-old boy is recovering after sustaining severe burn blisters to his face after visiting a tanning salon three times in a day.

Kieron Saunders from Tredegar, Blaenau Gwent, spent a total of 21 minutes under the lights of the stand-up booth.

He has been told to stay at home for a week after the burns became infected.

The salon's owner, Steven James, said he was "gutted" by the incident and is arranging meetings with officials to prevent it happening again.

Kieron's mother, Maria, said she had warned her son about the dangers of sunbeds before and had threatened to "ground him" and take away his pocket money if he used them again.

Swelling

"His lips swelled up and he looked like Baloo the bear from the Jungle Book," said Mrs Saunders.

"He couldn't lift his head up and he couldn't swallow. The doctor he said it was because he had been badly burned.

"Kieron is quite a vain boy and he is self-conscious about his acne - that was why he used sunbeds."

The salon, called 'Sun Kissed', displays signs stating under-16s are not allowed to use the booths and not to tan for longer than six minutes.

However, the premises remains unstaffed for much of the day.

Mrs Saunders said her son ignored signs in the salon about tanning and she called for it to be staffed at all times.

The salon owner said he is looking at ways to prevent such an incident happening again but added that the salon was only unstaffed to compete with others in the area.

"I would very much prefer to have someone there all the time," added Mr James.

"We are not operating illegally and if laws were passed to make all salons staffed all of the time it would solve the problem.

"I was absolutely gutted when this happened and I'm very concerned about it.

"I'm now considering staffing the shop outside school hours and maybe full time."

The British Association of Dermatologists said there needed to be further scrutiny of the tanning industry.

"This sort of horror story is precisely why sunbeds need tighter regulation," said Nina Goad, from the association.

"Under 18s should not be allowed to use sunbeds, and unmanned, coin operated sunbeds should be scrapped altogether.

"Children can't be expected to understand the risks that these machines pose, especially when they can be found at sports centres and places that suggest they are 'healthy', which sends conflicting messages."

[Barman]

  

[Grumpmeister]

Wonder if there is a welsh branch to the Nick family tree? 

[Snoopy]

This is the latest in a series of such incidents involving teenagers. There is talk of banning under 18s from using Tanning Shops but the teens see it as a way of curing their acne (which it isn't).

Thing is how do you stop teenagers being stupid? .... It goes with the territory. We were all daft as teenagers ~ Waits for a chorus of "I wasn't" from the assembled multitude ~~~~

[Nick]

I did some idiotic things when I was a teenager. And before anyone asks, they are all too embarrassing.

[Barman]

This is the latest in a series of such incidents involving teenagers. There is talk of banning under 18s from using Tanning Shops but the teens see it as a way of curing their acne (which it isn't).

Thing is how do you stop teenagers being stupid? .... It goes with the territory. We were all daft as teenagers ~ Waits for a chorus of "I wasn't" form the assembled multitude ~~~~

They seem even dafter these days... or perhaps it is just the fact that the media is constantly on hand to report it? 

[Snoopy]

I did some idiotic things when I was a teenager. And before anyone asks, they are all too embarrassing.

Me too.

BM ~ I think they just look sillier as we get older (if not wiser)

[Grumpmeister]

Looking back to when I was that age and remembering a friend that almost killed me twice you are probably right.

[GROWLER]

We were all daft as teenagers ~ Waits for a chorus of "I wasn't" from the assembled multitude ~~~~

Correct.
Was, and still am almost the perfect example of perfection in nearly every conceivable humanly possible manner of wholesomely goodness...nearly.

[Nick]

And I am sure Mrs Growler is of the same opinion..

[Grumpmeister]

We were all daft as teenagers ~ Waits for a chorus of "I wasn't" from the assembled multitude ~~~~

Correct.
Was, and still am almost the perfect example of perfection in nearly every conceivable humanly possible manner of wholesomely goodness...nearly.

 

[Snoopy]

We were all daft as teenagers ~ Waits for a chorus of "I wasn't" from the assembled multitude ~~~~

Correct.
Was, and still am almost the perfect example of perfection in nearly every conceivable humanly possible manner of wholesomely goodness...nearly.

 

[Barman]

We were all daft as teenagers ~ Waits for a chorus of "I wasn't" from the assembled multitude ~~~~

Correct.
Was, and still am almost the perfect example of perfection in nearly every conceivable humanly possible manner of wholesomely goodness...nearly.

[Uncle Mort]

I believe him.

He's bigger than me