Tattoo? wait at least until 18

I realized not so long ago that some states allow tattooing for under-18s. Personally I'm strongly of the opinion that they need to wait at least until the 18th b-day.

It's very popular, but ppl need to know their own mind and I question whether under-18s truly do know their minds about something as permanent.

(Thoughts, ppl?)

 

I agree.

Poor dh got a snoopy when he was 17 (I have a feeling there was alcohol involved). Last year he FINALLY got a coverup tattoo, but for the longest time he was pretty embarassed.


Imho, the same goes for piercings. I know it's all the rage for kids to have 20 holes in their faces, but.... yuck.

 

Meghan:

Yes, well, re. piercings, too I guess I kind of agree, up to a point, though these days even multiple ear piercings don't look unusual or particularly 'radical' on under-18s. I don't really have a problem with at least ear multiples on teens.

But ink? I guess your dh would have gotten something different if he had waited till 18, like you probably had the sense to wait. You do need to be an adult, and this is why many states stipulate 18 for tattoos.

 

You know.. ear piercings don't bother me, no matter how many.

I think it's the eybrow/nose/lip/tongue stuff that turns my stomach. I'm a bit of a fogey I guess

I think dh had a friend do it- I'm not sure what our state laws are (I don't have any tattoos) but I don't think they would have made a difference in his case. And no, he wouldn't have picked Snoopy!

 

Meghan:

Oh so the fact dh is inked hasn't influenced you at all, then, right.

'You know.. ear piercings don't bother me, no matter how many.' I really don't begrudge them multiples, either! In fact, there might even be a case for just taking them to the parlor whenever extra ear piercings are wanted (cost-permitting!) in case the teen decides to do it without consultation and with an unsterile, infection-prone needle. (Whatever...)

 

I'm more okay with piercings, because they close up and aren't visible if you take the studs out. Even the ones on the face - at most they look like an acne or chicken pox scar. Not a huge issue.

Tongue piercings worry me because of the potential for chipped teeth. Not good! But fortunately, those seem to be going out of fashion. Ear plugs (those big, round things they stick in earlobes) seem to be the new thing, and I don't like those either, as once you put them in there's no going back. Take 'em out and you've got saggy baggy earlobes. On the other hand, the only person I know who has them is older than me, so maybe it's not such a youth thing.

While I think it's great to have a minimum age for tattooing, I'm not completely convinced that a year - from 17 to 18 - makes such a huge difference. What's to say an 18yo can't get drunk and get an embarrassing tattoo, too? Or a 24yo, for that matter?

I looked up the rules (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legal_status_of_tattooing_in_the_United_States) and it appears in most states people under 18 have to have parental consent to get tattooed. I guess I wouldn't be too happy if I was living in Georgia and my 15yo ran off to get a tattoo, but other than that, the statutes seem fairly reasonable. And I guess in that situation, my real question would be - where did my 15yo get the money to do this?

 

Does anyone remember the article fairly recently about the mom who had her 5yo inked? "I <3 Mommy." Right, because that's not going to get him beat up, oh, his whole life.

 

Well... I expect he'll either wear long sleeves or learn to fight. Just like a guy I know whose parents named him "Spawn". His comment, "First few days of school were always rough, after that, no problem."

 

Whoa...inked at five...yikes. The name "Spawn"...yeah there outta be a law..lol.

I think 18 is good for tattoos. I could care about piercings. I only think that about tattoos because they are permanent.

 

My rule of thumb in our house for tattoos is to pick a design, and wait 6 months. If you still want that design after 6 months, I'll pay for it myself. I don't care how old you are. I personally waited till I was 22 just for the very reason we're talking about. As a result, I have never regretted any of my tattoos. My oldest son and I have plans to go together for his first and my fourth after the 6 month waiting period. My son is 22 and has diligently search for just the right design. I can think of a lot of things I regret having in my life(stretch marks, crow's feet, bad ankles) that I can't change and had no control over. At least I can pick the tattoo! LOL

 

The 6 month rule is great! Also the reason I never got a tattoo...lol...could never decide. However, I still say wait until 18. I can imagine my 13 year old picking something and still liking it 6 months later but regretting it 6 years later. I don't know. None of my kids want them anyway...and my husband and I do not have them so it isn't an issue. I did think of getting one and taking my daughter when she graduated but she doesn't want to. lol

 

I like the 6 mo rule too. Both of my sons have tattoos and I made them wait until they were 18 to get them. My parents took my older son (now 23) to their tattoo artist for his 18th birthday. I didn't want him going to any fly by night or dirty needle place so I asked them to take him. I feel like I'm going to faint just at the sight of the needle, so I didn't go lol.. My younger son is now 19 and just got his first tattoo two weeks ago.

 

The rule in our home is once Ems moves out, she can do what she pleases to her body. It doesn't matter if she is 18 or not.
With that said, Handsome and I strive to teach Ems that if she gets a tatoo, she should wait until she is married. Handsome doesn't like tatoos. This isn't to say he wouldn't still love me if I had one or even if I got one now. However, he doesn't find anything attractive about tatoos on women. In all areas of our relationship, we strive to be pleasing to each other. We teach Ems that one day she and her husband will belong to each other and they/she should wait to do anything permanent to the body. YES, she can still be happily married to a great guy who doesn't like tatoos even if she does have them. Ultimately they are permanent and if we are going to share our bodies with the same person day after day, year after year, it would be nice to take her future spouse into consideration. If he is a tatoo fan himself and she wants to get a tatoo, then tatoo away! :lol:
There are some people who will not agree and this is alright by me. But we teach Ems that she is to prepare herself for marriage long before she is married and in more areas than just virtue.

 

MegCanada:

So you mean that if they were 17 and you knew they were really, really committed, you'd take them to the parlor for their first tattoo? (if the state law allowed it, of course.)

Of course, the thing about piercings is that they can be taken out! (The trick with tongue piercing is to have it a bit further back along the tongue so it's less likely to chip teeth; some piercers advise this. But even then I would say 18.)

 

Yes, I expect I would... I don't think there's anything particularly magical about your 18th birthday that makes you any more grown up than you were the day before. If the law says that my child can have a tattoo with parental permission, and if I think my child has thought this through carefully and the tattoo parlour is respectable, then I don't see any reason why I wouldn't give my permission.

Of course... I'd want my child to pay for the tattoo themselves. I mean, why should I pony up the money for something frivolous like that? I'd also advise them to get it put somewhere that's not visible during a job interview. My son has said he wants to work for Walt Disney World, so that would be a consideration too, as they have a rule against visible tattoos.

My kids are pretty sensible. I have reasonable faith they won't do anything silly, like turn themselves into the Amazing Tattooed Man or Woman.

P.S. I just saw an ad in a women's magazine for tattoo "removal" cream, which had a woman talking about her disaster of a wedding day - her tattoo was visible in her backless wedding gown! Why she was wearing a backless gown, I have no idea. Maybe she forgot she had a tattoo, until the moment it made her mother-in-law faint. Anyway, apparently everyone seeing her tattoo was such a humiliation that she ended up getting divorced right after. Then she uses the cream, her tattoo vanishes, she gets married AGAIN to a different guy, and this time it's a success. It was all utterly ridiculous. :lol:

 

My sister had to buy special make up to cover hers on her wedding day. Her dad would have immediately disowned her if he knew she had one (she has two, but one is on her hip, the other on her ankle). I wish I was exaggerating about him, but I'm not. The most stressful part of her wedding day was her constant worry that her pantyhose would rub away the make up and her tattoo would be noticeable.

Funny story about her tattoo: Her and a friend went to Virginia Beach and decided to get inked together. My sister chose a genie coming out of a lamp (boring, right?). Anyhow, after the artist had completed the lamp and barely started on the bottom of the genie, she could no longer take the pain. He turned the bottom of the genie into smoke and they called it a day. She went back four years later with the same friend and got the genie on her hip. :roll:

 

I'm 25 and have justed started thinking about getting a tattoo. Not sure what I really want yet, but I couldn't imagine what I would have gotten if I got a tatto before I was 18..... yikes I don't even want to think about it!!!
As for the pierceings, the only ones that I do not like is ear plug type. Like what was metioned above, the saggy earlobe is never a nice thing to look at.

 

leissa:

Well, it must be good to be completely comfortable with all the tattoos which were obviously gotten after careful thought and planning. So I'm sure you don't mind the idea of waiting a bit, right.

Sounds like a great example to the next generation of how to become tattooed responsibly. (The mother - son bonding thing sounds good, too.)

Meg Canada: Well I guess that some 17 year olds may be exceptionally mature. (So often at 17 they aren't!).

 

I can't imagine disowning a child over a tatoo. If I had a tatoo and he was my dad, I would have to be disowned. :lol:

 

My mom is 62 and wants to get a tatoo. My dad doesn't want her to get one but also told her that he wouldn't attempt to talk her out of it. So she decided to get extra ear piercings instead. She thought it was a nice compromise, but she would still like at tatoo. Who knows, maybe she still will get one. She wants a rose on her finger or arm.