It’s that time of year again: spring. The birds start chirping, the flowers begin to blossom and numerous teenage girls transform to a nice shade of orange. Whether it’s for prom, bringing in the new season or to feel better about themselves, many girls, and some guys, are finding themselves going tanning more and more during the spring months. For obvious reasons, tanning is bad for you. You are literally laying in a capsule spewing out harmful ultraviolet radiation for an extended amount of time. Yes, acquiring a tan from the sun is good for you, because of vitamin D and what not, but you still have to wear sunblock to protect yourself. Why would laying in direct UVA radiation with very little protection sound like a good idea? You’re right; it doesn’t. Though indoor and outdoor tanning have similar effects on the skin, both provide different results as well. Outdoor tanning exposes you to a mixture of both UVA and UVB rays, while indoor tanning exclusively emits UV radiation. One way to tell if someone tans outdoors or indoors is the pigment of their skin. Tanning outdoors yields a glowing golden brown shade, while too much tanning in a bed can result in more of an orange color. While most girls go tanning to avoid turning as orange as a bad spray tan might make them, the epidemic is still happening. Indoor tanning versus outdoor tanning not only has immediate effects to the skin, but long-term effects as well. It is shown that people who tan in tanning beds are nearly 74 percent more likely to develop melanoma, a form of skin cancer, than those who have never tanned indoors. Let’s face it; besides that one guy from Benchwarmers, no one is going to hide from the sun most of their life. Tanning in moderation will definitely lower the risk of developing skin cancer. Going every day for months, however, will not be as nice to your skin. With all of this said, the biggest question is simply, “Why?” Why do girls feel the need to tan so much? You hear people all of the time talking about how they’re “so pasty” or “too pale” for their liking. Or, my personal favorite, “Everyone looks so much better when they’re tan!” Is this truly the case, though? Skin pigment should not determine how “good” or “bad” you look. No matter what shade your skin is throughout the year, you’re still going to have the same face. Not to mention, no matter how tan or pale you are, your personality should still be the same. In actuality, that’s all people should care about in a person anyways. If that’s not the case, I think you should find some new friends. In the end, tanning is ultimately a personal choice for anyone to make. Whether you hate tanning or go for the occasional bronzing session is up to you, but just be smart about it! Going every once in awhile is a lot better than going every day, so if you must, use moderation. Having a tan does not in the slightest determine the kind of person you are, and you will be just as beautiful pale, tan or whatever in between.