Tattoos and Piercings

OPINIONS:

Well as for tattoos I think A teen should wait till they are older, and know what they really want, and they are fully grown because the stretch and fade.When done in good taste, it is fine. But rarely are teens thinking about what is in good taste. They are impulsive and living for the moment. And a tat that looks good at 20, doesn't look good at 55. And piercings can close up and heal if not wanted....unless the teen is an idiot and decides to guage them out until they are HUGE holes with bars and plates shoved through them. They are just destroying their bodies in my opinion.

As for piercings, as long as they are not gaudging them all big, they can be taken out and heal. Just depends on the person and what they get and where. I think piercing is no big deal because they are easily removed if you change your mind. Tattoos on the other hand ,are much more permanent. You think you'll like it forever but don't be fooled. Your taste is likely to change a lot over the coming years. So in short I'd say I feel sorry for teenagers with tattoos. I usually think "You chump! You'll probably regret that one!"

As long teens are living at home, I won't allow them to get tattoos or extra piercings (and thankfully, they don't want to). If they want to do it once they move out on their own, that's their choice... but at least they won't be able to blame me when they later regret it.

This limited capacity is nowhere more evident than in the problem thousands of parents face everyday in dealing with their teenagers and tattoos. Teenagers cannot be held to blame if they are constantly bombarded with images of tattooed rock, movie, and sports stars, and want to grab a bit of cool for themselves.But teenagers getting tattoos, with or without parental permission, can lead to some serious unhappiness down the road, which is exactly where teenagers are incapable of looking. Most teenagers are not good at setting priorities, so they don't realize that priorities change, and often with surprising regularity. Teenagers with tattoos obtained because they wanted to belong to, or stand out from, the school crowd are almost certain to regret their decision when the school crowd is dispersed to the four winds and the tattoo is still shining forth. Many tattoo artists recognize this aspect of the teenagers and tattoos relationship, and will refuse to give teens tattoos.

Another factor which tattoo artists have to consider is that teenagers, even at sixteen and seventeen, have not fully matured and their physical contours may have some significant changes still ahead. No person walking the Earth truly has the carries same shape from their late teens into their late twenties, and the tattoo which was perfectly placed in adolescence can be an embarrassment a decade later.Even though your will hate the waiting, you will have avoided a confrontation, and either helped find a tattoo he or she can truly live with, or helped your teen learn to live very well without any tattoo at all.

EXPLAINATION:

Tatooing and piercing have an almost magnetic appeal to many teens. While they may be seen as adornment by adolescents, they can become a battleground with adults. A psychiatrist examines the motivation and function of body sculpting by contemporary adolescents.

"So be it" may have serious consequences. If you had the facts on tattoo you two can go to lunch and talk it over. Share what you know.

Psychologists say that part of the adolescent's development is searching for a specific identity. They live in turbulent times and tattoos give them a sense of control and an outlet for individual expression. Andre Martin, who wrote an article on teenagers and tattoos, said that "Tattoos and piercing can offer a concrete and readily available solution for many of the identity crises and conflicts normative to adolescent development. In using such decorations, and by marking out their bodily territories, adolescents can support their efforts at autonomy, privacy, and insulation. Seeking individuation, tattooed adolescents can become unambiguously demarcated from others and singled out as unique. The intense and often disturbing reactions that are mobilized in viewers can help to effectively keep them at bay, becoming tantamount to the proverbial "Keep Out" sign hanging from a teenager's door."

There's also the quest for permanence according to Martin. He said that an adolescent's desire to cling to a current certainty could motivate him to put down in ink what is valued and cherished today, but may not be the same thing that is valued and cherished 12 months down the road.