Thanks to New Jersey's Patricia Krentcil: Five Reasons You (and Your 5-Year-Old) Should Stay out of the Tanning Bed | Jackalope Ranch | Phoenix | Phoenix New Times | The Leading Independent News Source in Phoenix, Arizona
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Thanks to New Jersey's Patricia Krentcil: Five Reasons You (and Your 5-Year-Old) Should Stay out of the Tanning Bed

In this week's prime example of great parenting and self-awareness, 44-year-old Patricia Krentcil of New Jersey was arrested and charged with with felony child endangerment after she allegedly took her daughter to a local tanning salon and put her in one of the booths. While she denies allowing her daughter...
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In this week's prime example of great parenting and self-awareness, 44-year-old Patricia Krentcil of New Jersey was arrested and charged with with felony child endangerment after she allegedly took her daughter to a local tanning salon and put her in one of the booths.

While she denies allowing her daughter into the tanning bed, she does say her 5-year-old was in the room with her and had a sunburn the next day from playing outside. "It's like taking your daughter to go food shopping," Krentcil said. "There's tons of moms that bring their children in."

New Jersey state law prohibits children under the age of 14 from entering tanning booths and specifies that children between the ages of 14 and 17 must be accompanied by an adult. That said, skin like Krentcil's is just one of many reasons why anyone (and everyone) should spare themselves from the hotbox.

Here are (just) five more:

5. Skin cancer. Duh. And if you're still in denial and think the dinky goggles and bikini will save you, just refer to the study completed in 2009 by international cancer experts, who ruled tanning beds and other sources of ultraviolet radiation to be as deadly as arsenic and mustard gas. Oil, anyone?

4. Sarah Palin requested one for her governor's mansion in Juneau. And she also can't name a newspaper she reads. Classy.

3. You could end up looking like this woman:

Yum.

2. Light up: Tanning beds are as bad for you as smoking. Yes, you know, that other activity that you casually refuse to believe is slowly ruining your body.

1. Even Snooki quit.

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