Thursday, March 22, 2007 Older Editions

More than skin-deep: AHS junior's letter wins melanoma contest

By April Guilmet

Bridget Carroll pales in comparison to her close pal, Allie Navarro.

A junior at Andover High, Carroll prefers to leave her skin the natural way. But Navarro, a senior with bronzed cheeks, visits a Tewksbury tanning salon on a regular basis.

It's a habit that health teacher Betsey Desfosse refers to as "the newest addiction" among high school students. And so-called tanning "addictions" can be deadly, says Steve Fine, president of the Peabody-based Melanoma Education Foundation.

Fortunately for Navarro, her friend and her teacher are looking out for her. "Allie's been very open in health class about her tanning habit," Desfosse said.

Concerned for the well-being of her students, many of whom embrace tanning, Desfosse encouraged them to enter an essay-writing contest sponsored by the foundation. A skin-analyzer machine was the award for the winning essay. Contestants were asked to write a generic letter to someone who goes tanning, imploring them to stop.

But Carroll made the assignment somewhat more personal.

"If it wasn't for her, I wouldn't have done it," Carroll said, patting her friend's burnished shoulder. "I'd say half of the girls here go tanning. But I'd rather she stayed pale, like me."

"The only thing a tan can do to you is hurt you, Allie," Carroll wrote in her letter. "Today, there are over 24,000 tanning salons in our country with more than 22 million clients each year. Of these 22 million, over 60,000 receive just one type of skin cancer, melanoma, each year." Her words earned a skin-analyzer machine for the high school.

Though she herself hasn't known anyone with skin cancer, Carroll said her work as a lifeguard last summer made her realize the importance of using sunscreen, rather than a tanning accelerator.

"And for me, it's gotta be the 45-proof," she said, motioning towards her ivory complexion.

Navarro still isn't entirely convinced. "I don't see too many girls here who still have their natural skin color," she said. "And the spray-on tan turns you orange." What makes it especially hard to break her habit, she said, is the very short shorts she must wear as a member of the volleyball team. "I wanted my legs to be tan," Navarro said.

"But I'm definitely slowing it down. I haven't gone in a week and a half now," she said.

Fine plans to visit the school Monday, April 2, when he'll deliver the skin-analyzer machine and train participating teachers in its use. The day can't come soon enough for Desfosse. "He calls it 'the Oh My God machine,' " Desfosse laughed, recalling past visits where Fine analyzed skin damage on cooperating students and staff. Using special lights, the machine allows participants to see freckles, scars and sun splotches they never knew they had.

Fine said he regularly visits area high schools with his machine. "It shows the kids the real sun damage. They sort of scream when they see it," Fine said. "But it's a wake-up call."

And for good reason: Statistics show if a person under age 30 uses a tanning bed 10 times in a year, their risk of contracting melanoma increases eightfold. "It used to be that dermatologists would never see melanoma cases under age 20," Fine said. "But now, they're seeing them pretty routinely."