I would rather my kids smoke.
November 16, 2010
Please. Please do not use tanning beds. And if you do, please stop. Melanoma is not “just skin cancer”. It is a fatal disease that destroys the brain, the lungs, and bones.
I want you to think of my Rachael and Donna’s baby if you ever decide to use a tanning bed. It CAN happen to you.
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My uncle died of lung cancer due to smoking. I would think twice about seriously advocating this.
I wasn’t advocating smoking.
If my love for my children and my desire that they have a long and prosperous life is not clear through my writing then let me be clear. I do not want my kids to participate in ANY behavior that is cancer causing. However, I think the dangers of tanning beds are horrific and (here’s the key) NON REVERSIBLE. So, if I HAD to choose (and again, I would not advocate smoking to anyone’s kids, certainly not my own) but if I HAD to choose, I think the dangers tanning beds outweigh those of smoking.
When a person stops smoking their risk for cancer starts decreasing immediately. When a young person tans for a couple years, they have increased their chances of getting melanoma SIGNIFICANTLY for LIFE. No amount of “no more tanning” will decrease that risk.
I don’t want to compare, it is hardly a competition. Both cancers are awful and I think we should minimize our risks for ALL cancers. Honestly, I was being sensational. If you don’t like sensationalism I can appreciate that but to actually think I was ADVOCATING smoking is silly.
Saying “I would rather my kids smoke” IS advocating smoking!! There are no two ways about that!!
Would you like to ask my grandmother who is still mourning the death of my uncle over five years later? Or how about my friend’s family who almost lost their family member (and my friend) due to emphysema, again due to smoking? Don’t be so stupid as to publically state what you have and people won’t call you out on it!!