BOSTON, Jan. 11, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- The Melanoma Foundation of New England (MFNE) announced today that its award-winning, melanoma prevention program Your Skin Is In will be available on a national level via an eLearning site, www.YourSkinIsIn.org. The Your Skin Is In program educates teens and young adults on the dangers of indoor and outdoor tanning and the direct link between UV exposure and melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer.
Similar to tobacco use before its connection to lung cancer was well-known, the use of tanning beds and excessive UV exposure, is an unfortunate source of preventable cancer. Exposure to the UV rays of tanning beds at a young age increases the likelihood of developing melanoma by more than 50%, a tragic statistic when one considers the fact that 2.5 million teens use tanning booths each year. Melanoma is the second most common cancer in teens and young adults ages 15-29. Your Skin Is In teaches about the warning signs of melanoma and stresses the importance of sunscreen.
Your Skin Is In has toured New England colleges and high schools for the past 9 years giving presentations on melanoma and the underappreciated risks of tanning, both indoors and out. The program has reached over half a million students throughout New England and aims to end the myths that tanning is safe.
"Your Skin Is In is a time tested program to teach young people the dangers of UV exposure and the importance of loving the skin they're in," said Deb Girard, MFNE's Executive Director, "We have been able to evaluate the attitude changes of students who have taken part in the program. Over time we hope to see real behavioral changes with this high-risk group; young people."
The online version of this program has been designed so that any school can easily educate its own student body. This free educational portal includes a full interactive presentation, video scenarios, survivor stories, a trivia game and a quiz that teachers may use for curriculum assessment. With the national release of Your Skin Is In, MFNE invites young adults everywhere to join the thousands who have already taken the pledge to not use tanning beds or intentionally tan outdoors.
For more information about Your Skin Is In please see www.YourSkinIsIn.org, call 800-557-6352 or email Meghan Rothschild at [email protected].
About MFNE:
MFNE is a non-profit organization that works to reduce the incidence of melanoma. As the largest non-profit in the New England region dedicated to skin cancer awareness and early detection, MFNE provides a variety of free education programs targeting the prevention of skin cancer for children, teens and adults. MFNE's Your Skin Is In program was recognized by the American Academy of Dermatology with a Gold Triangle award in 2009. MFNE also assists patients and their caregivers struggling with melanoma by offering support groups and their "Billy's Buddies" program. Learn more about MFNE at www.mfne.org.
SOURCE Melanoma Foundation of New England
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