Aldermen Want Teens To Get Out Of The Tanning Bed, Pull Up Their Pants

By Samantha Abernethy in News on May 31, 2012 3:20PM

In Wednesday's City Council meeting, aldermen addressed two teen issues: Tanning booths and baggy pants. A bill presented by Ald. Debra Silverstein (50th) would ban people under the age of 18 from using tanning equipment, even if the minors have parental permission and even if all the cool kids at school are doing it. Testimony from skin cancer victims and reports of links between skin cancer and tanning equipment at yesterday's session helped push this bill up for approval at next week's City Council meeting.

Another bill aimed at poor teen fashion choices from the 1990s that inexplicably persist says "gangster-style clothing" is a "distraction." Ald. Emma Mitts (37th) wrote the resolution on saggy pants, sideways baseball caps, designer shoes and excessive jewelry, saying the clothing disrupts learning, increases violence, and puts an emotional and financial strain on parents. Mitts presented a "saggin' and baggin'" slideshow, and the City Council Education Committee unanimously approved the resolution to encourage Chicago schools "to implement a school uniform requirement to a greater degree."