Kids 16 and under with tatoos? Mostly girls. WWYD?

[Lachesis00]

My cousin has a now 16 year old, who got her lip, tongue and nose pierced when she was 13-ish?? She has a few tats (most are hidden one I can see when she wears her hair up, a tramp stamp and one on her ankle).
My cousin's BIL does beautiful work and I am going to assume he did them for K. Not sure what or if there are laws in Alaska. I wish I knew if there were meaning behind them or...
I once asked my cousin why she let K get this stuff done at such a young age (13, might have been 12 for the nose ring), she said kids will be kids and do what what they want. Uhhh OK.

I told my son (who is now 18) if he ever got pierced or tattooed before he moves out of my house, I'd remove them personally (OK, not really, but I did tell him, as long as he is at home, forget it). I really do not care for them for reasons people here have already stated. He has no desire to mark himself. ....I have 2 more kids to argue with in 16-18 years

 

[daisax]

my advice would be show a teen girl how many women at age 50+ are either trying desperately to hide their tattoos or how bad they look now with wrinkling and stretching after many years. Also go see someone who's had a tattoo removed and the scarring thats left.

All I needed to see was a 50 year old woman on holiday with her tats and her desperately trying to cover them, couldnt wear a nice small sundress or swimsuit from her embarrassment of something she'd done 20 years earlier to be "cool". They were the bain of her life.

You don't even have to wait until 50 -- many young women find the perfect wedding dress, only to realize that it's putting their back/shoulder tattoo in full view, and whatever tattoo design they thought was beautiful and tasteful at 18 isn't exactly what they want to project on the most formal occasion of their life.

 

[Evil Genius]

Because as it turns out, they are. In PA, I have now found out, you can not give ANY child a tattoo to a child under 16, and the girls next door have told me that their 14 year old friends have them.

And you know for a FACT that these girls did not have parental consent?

 

[Papa Deuce]

And you know for a FACT that these girls did not have parental consent?

I believe the girls I know who are in the class. And like I said 14 year olds are not allowed to be tatooed in PA even with consent.

ETA... many of the girls I saw had the tats on their VERY LOW parts of their bellies.... I doubt many parents would allow that, if you get my drift.

 

[rie'smom]

And you know for a FACT that these girls did not have parental consent?

I cannot speak for Papa Deuce but I know for a fact that my daughter's friend got hers without parental consent.

 

[Free4Life11]

I think it's ridiculous. I don't know WHY the parents allow it or how the kids hide it??

If you are going to get a tattoo at LEAST get something that you can easily hide!

Tattoos CAN look fine as you age...IF YOU KEEP YOUR BODY IN SHAPE. But we all know how feel people actually do that, so most end up looking awful!

 

[Sparx]

If it is done with consent, it's fine by me. If not, I'd sue them to recover the cost of removal. Personally, I can't wait until this and the piercing fad have passed.

tattoos and piercings are not a fad. they are, have been, and will be practiced by all cultures, all walks of life since virtually the begining of humanity. body modification is as old as our bodies.

 

[daisax]

tattoos and piercings are not a fad. they are, have been, and will be practiced by all cultures, all walks of life since virtually the begining of humanity. body modification is as old as our bodies.

Some of us who aren't all THAT old remember when they were only on bikers and guys who had been in the Navy.

Not 16 year old girls.

 

[Sparx]

Some of us who aren't all THAT old remember when they were only on bikers and guys who had been in the Navy.

Not 16 year old girls.

so just because a stigma has been removed from an act, to make it more socially acceptable and accessable, that makes it a fad?

 

[imabrat]

Some of us who aren't all THAT old remember when they were only on bikers and guys who had been in the Navy.

Not 16 year old girls.

That you've seen.
Indigenous tribes are known to have tattoos. How do you think the tribal designs you see on practically every young woman came to be? Bikers and Navymen weren't the only ones to have tattoos.

And if a 16 year old girl has a tattoo, what business is it to you (general you)? It's not your body, you don't have to live with it forever. They are our bodies, and we have the right to do what we want with them. If getting a tattoo is the worst thing a 16 year old can do, then by all means do it! I mean no disrespect, but a tattoo CAN be removed.

 

[daisax]

so just because a stigma has been removed from an act, to make it more socially acceptable and accessable, that makes it a fad?

Time will determine whether it's a fad or not. There hasn't been enough time yet to know.

Most of us shudder at the our memories (or the photographic evidence) of our taste at 16 years old.

If a college chick wants a tattoo, she's old enough to foresee the consequences and dismiss them. A 16 year old is not.

I don't see as much multiple ear piercings as I used to see -- there was one point where everybody under 20 seemed to have a long row of piercings up their ear. In my grandmother's day, ear piercing wasn't that common -- so that's one fad that took off, became mainstream, then got extreme, and seems to have dialed back a bit. On the other hand, piercings have shifted south so maybe there's just as much piercing as when girls had 6 in one ear, but they've simply become more private.

 

[daisax]

That you've seen.
Indigenous tribes are known to have tattoos. How do you think the tribal designs you see on practically every young woman came to be? Bikers and Navymen weren't the only ones to have tattoos.

And if a 16 year old girl has a tattoo, what business is it to you (general you)? It's not your body, you don't have to live with it forever. They are our bodies, and we have the right to do what we want with them. If getting a tattoo is the worst thing a 16 year old can do, then by all means do it! I mean no disrespect, but a tattoo CAN be removed.

Of course tattoos go back as long as human beings do. Not so much on adolescent American women, which was what I was addressing. (And not so much on middle class men, either -- they were considered a genuine barrier to professional employment)

It's none of my business whether a 16 year old has a tattoo, except to sympathize for her possible regret in the future.

And yes, they can be removed, so you replace a picture with an ugly scar. May or may not be an improvement.

 

[penn19]

I am now 42, and wanted to get a tattoo when I was in high school. I wanted a Playboy bunny! I cannot even imagine right now having a Playboy bunny tattooed somewhere on my body. When I see women my age, or even a little younger, I think it looks very tacky. And you think it looks good. It doesn't. Believe me.
When I see a 30-something squat down, or bend over and I see a huge bullseye on her lower back........It just doesn't look nice and I think it makes people think differently about you.
I think if you want to get a tattoo, you should get one like Phoebe from friends. A little dot of ink that "represents the world".

 

[penn19]

Some of us who aren't all THAT old remember when they were only on bikers and guys who had been in the Navy.

Not 16 year old girls.

Amen to that brother...I don't have girls. Just boys. And I know I would probably feel differently about a girl that one of my kids might bring home if she had a tattoo. It is what it is. I don't think I am totally old fashioned about most things. But that I am. I think for MOST girls, not all, MOST get it to add to the whole sexual thing. The pierced belly button, the whole thing. To the poster who got it to mark her cancer, that I can almost see. That has some meaning. But to get a tramp stamp etc....

 

[imabrat]

If a college chick wants a tattoo, she's old enough to foresee the consequences and dismiss them. A 16 year old is not.

Age doesn't determine maturity.

 

[EthansMom]

I've seen some beautiful tattoos (very artistic) that really seem to add another dimension to the wearer and I've seen some terrible tattoos that really detracted from the wearer's appearance.

I've never gotten a tattoo for 2 reasons: (1) The design of tattoo I'd get changes every time I consider getting one (a sun and moon when I was younger, a plane when I was flying, and more recently a multicolored filigree bracelet) and (2) when I was in college and seriously considering getting a tattoo, I had a job where the janitor was a frail old man (80s or 90s, I'd say) and had had several tattoos done on his arms when he was a 17 year old Marine. His arms weren't nearly in the same condition when he was older than they were when he'd been a muscular young man and his tattoos were completely unrecognizable... basically, his arms were both completely blue.

If my kids decide they want to get a tattoo, I'd tell them that they have to wait till they are 18, pay for it themselves, and they *should* wait 6 months and see if the design they'd want is still the same. If you don't still want the same design 6 months later, then you shouldn't be having it permanently added to your body.

I know several parents who would have no problem giving their 16 year-old (or younger) child permission to get a tattoo and even paying for it.

 

[Camicar]

I really do not like tattoos. I have never seen ONE I like or consider artistic or attractive and YES, I've seen a bunch since I worked in bridal/formal wear and have seens thousands of women undressed. I have never seen one woman whose beauty I feel is enhanced by a tattoo. I honestly consider some of them (and some facial piercings) to be body mutilation. So needless to say, my dd will not be getting a tattoo while she lives under my roof (any more than she'll be getting her tongue or lip or eyebrow or nose pierced).



I have an old friend whose daughter upon her eighteenth birthday promptly went out and got one tattoo after another on her arms, legs, back, neck. She wanted to get more. My friend was very upset and tried to talk to her dd about it, but got no where. Her dd just kept saying her mom didn't know what fashion and style were about and how today tattoos are so fashionable and trendy.

I copied a photo of my friend and I from about 1977 from the first day of school. Her mother had taken it because we thought we were so high-stylin' in our super-trendy clothes, hairstyles, platform shoes, etc.

I sent it to my friend's dd with a note that said, "Yeah, we look pretty funny, don't we? I bet you're laughing a lot. But thirty years later, WE are not the ones still weaing our fashion choices from when we were eighteen. Aren't we the lucky ones?"

Her dd didn't get any more tattoos after that.

 

[arminnie]

I had a job where the janitor was a frail old man (80s or 90s, I'd say) and had had several tattoos done on his arms when he was a 17 year old Marine.

My dad has a tattoo that is 75 years old! He got it on his forearm when he was 13. We talked about it just the other day. It cost 50 cents.

 

[nerdylightbulb]

I've seen some beautiful tattoos (very artistic) that really seem to add another dimension to the wearer and I've seen some terrible tattoos that really detracted from the wearer's appearance.

I've never gotten a tattoo for 2 reasons: (1) The design of tattoo I'd get changes every time I consider getting one (a sun and moon when I was younger, a plane when I was flying, and more recently a multicolored filigree bracelet) and (2) when I was in college and seriously considering getting a tattoo, I had a job where the janitor was a frail old man (80s or 90s, I'd say) and had had several tattoos done on his arms when he was a 17 year old Marine. His arms weren't nearly in the same condition when he was older than they were when he'd been a muscular young man and his tattoos were completely unrecognizable... basically, his arms were both completely blue.

If my kids decide they want to get a tattoo, I'd tell them that they have to wait till they are 18, pay for it themselves, and they *should* wait 6 months and see if the design they'd want is still the same. If you don't still want the same design 6 months later, then you shouldn't be having it permanently added to your body.

I know several parents who would have no problem giving their 16 year-old (or younger) child permission to get a tattoo and even paying for it.

That reminds me of Grant Brandell's tattoo.

I'd never get a tattoo until I'm 18

 

[Christine]

Age doesn't determine maturity.

No, but fMRI scans do. fMRI scans have proven that the 16 y/o old brain (heck the 19 y/o brain) have not matured and function totally different during decision making processes and impulses actions than does a "mature" brain.