Thank you for your time! Any feedback will be appreciated, this is a tad rushed but if you even have the time to skim it and respond just a little I will forever be thankful!
Laura Traviss
English 102
Professor Beech
December 3, 2012
True Life: My Child Wants a Tattoo or Piercing
In grade school, a teacher's main objective in their everyday lessons is to spark creativity in their students. Self-expression through art and creative writing has all been encouraged from a kindergartners first "hand turkey" to a seventh graders personal variation of a sonnet dedicated to their first love. Young minds hold no boundaries. They are not tied down by guidelines or deadlines and generally come from an instant rush of creative energy. Parents, being proud of their student's accomplishments, often tape colorful drawings of butterflies upon their Whirlpool refrigerators among an array of well-written book reports. In today's society, these young adolescence long to have their artistic expressions canvassed on a more permanent medium; their bodies. Fueled by fads and trends, more so than having any cultural relevance, tattoos and body piercings have been popularized by a younger generation. This generation, though brilliant and full of wonderful ideas, lack the ability to see the consequences of their actions. A young mind is bound to make impulsive decisions without thinking of any repercussions. As the demand for tattoo's and piercing's become prominent within the youth, so does the increase of risk. In order to protect children less than 18 years of age restriction and parental consent should always be applied when children tattoo or pierce their bodies based on the laws implemented, health concerns, and maturity of the individual.
Not all of the youth should be categorized into the too-young-to-make-a-permanent-decision group, but the backlash and physical damage done by those foolish enough to go behind the law have only added to the importance of age restriction and parental consent. There are plenty of newspaper articles published by the Los Angeles Times that help to support these claims. For example, Martha Irvine from the Los Angeles Times, reports on the growing number of teenagers that are turning to each other to tattoo and pierce their own bodies rather than gain parental consent and allow a professional to perform these procedures. This new trend has led to an increase of tetanus and hepatitis B or C due to lack of sterilization of the needles being used to tattoo and pierce these teenagers. In addition to major newspaper organizations, the National Conference of State Legislatures states that the issue of allowing minors to tattoo or pierce their bodies is not just a fight between parents and their children anymore; it has reached the legislature. This information alone gives enough evidence to prove that the overall well-being of a child is at stake if common sense, parental control and the law do not work together. Failure to do so will only result in a permanent regretful mistake that could lead all the way to serious life threatening infections or diseases.
Children, whether two or twenty-two, are more reluctant to follow the law rather than listen to their parents or any other older influence they may have in their life. That is how important of an issue tattoos and piercings have become over the years. If it was not for the reinforcement of the laws against tattooing and piercings minors without parental consent, there would not be much to stop adolescents from seeking out the professionals. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, any tattoo artist caught breaking the tattoo and piercing laws in 45 states could face financial penalties and even jail time depending on the severity of the situation.
45 states have laws prohibiting minors from getting tattoos. Thirty-eight states have laws that prohibit both body piercing and tattooing on minors without parental permission (Tattoos par. 1).
These state laws were enforced to back up the rights of parents in the United Sates and keep minors from altering their physical appearance until they are over the age of 18 (Tattoos). It is important to keep a tighter restriction on minors by implementing harsh punishments. No smart tattoo artist will want to risk his or her career and hard earned money just for drawing a heart on a seventeen year olds shoulder. Even the piercers at the tattoo shops refuse to cross any boundaries when it comes to written law. For example, Daisy Munoz, a body piercer reported to the Los Angeles Times:
I've been doing body piercing for more than three years and I always ask for proof of age. I don't want some parent coming in here screaming at me (Youth par. 5).
Daisy is smart to turn away younger customers who cannot provide valid proof of age. California has passed a bill that will require parents to "OK" their child's request to receive any body piercings. If the bill eventually becomes a law, violators will have to pay fines up to 250 dollars. Parents will also hold the right to sue for civil damages if an "OK" is not received prior to the procedure. If young adults thought getting a tattoo under age was difficult, wait until they hear that the majority of the U.S will eventually model the state of California by passing this bill as well. The owners of these tattoo shops already receive enough push back from health officials; the last thing they need to worry about is a lawsuit for assisting underage children. The negative publicity and having an entire practice shut down is not worth the risk.
A parent's worst nightmare is hearing that their child has developed a serious infection due to a poor decision. To make matters worse, a child under the age of 18 who has received an ear piercing from a piercer who failed to sterilize the instrument that was driven into the skin has now spread hepatitis. Young adults do not take into consideration the consequences of their actions. This is known due to the number of cases made available to the public. By enforcing parental consent, parents are made aware of the situation. Their leverage, being years of knowledge over the adolescents, allows the decision to fall into their laps. Parents are more inclined to look into the quality and standards of the tattoo shops as well as verify that a licensed professional will be taking care of their children.
What is alarming and a game changer is the fact that the increase of infections is not from these licensed professionals. The increase infections are from young adults tattooing and piercing other young adults without proper sterilization and over all familiarity with what they are driving into the skin. From an immature prospective, one might think this is happening because laws will not stop stubborn kids from getting what they want. One child interviewed stated that children should be allowed to get tattoos and piercings at any age. Going to a professional should not be restricted to minors because minors will be more inclined to do it themselves and risk infection if the law asks for parental consent at the age of 18 (McCollum). Though this may hold true, so does the real danger of hepatitis B and C. Martha Irvine, from the Los Angeles Times, reports the new trend has teenagers piercing and tattooing each other rather than seeking out licensed professionals and having parental consent. This is also known as "Poke and Stick Parties" around high schools. Concerned officials in the area have started campaigns to raise awareness of the dangers involved in unlicensed body art (Irvine). This type of behavior only makes the parental consent and restrictions against minors more relevant. If the child is that desperate to go to the extremes to have tattoos and piercings that they ultimately lack in common sense then they should not be allowed to walk into a shop without parental consent. These children are a liability. The laws protect not only the child and their parents, but most importantly protect the licensed individuals preforming these procedures.
It is always wise to save the best for last. This final point ties the previous arguments together and is center of the entire issue at hand. Those colorful butterflies that are neatly held up by magnets on the outside of an icebox are now sporadically placed down the nape of a seventeen year olds neck. In a few years' time, that seventeen year old will be a mature working adult in their twenties. They will inquire on how to get rid of such a foolish and impulsive decision they were allowed to make when they were younger, only to discover that laser surgery to remove tattoos will cut a nice whole into an already tight daily budget. At the point of contact with the needle and skin, the seventeen year old did not think that in a few years their interests and life style would change.
A link between maturity and decision making supports restriction and parental consent of the minors being pierced and tattooed. The maturity level of a person under the age of 18 years old causes the individual to be easily persuaded by fades and trends. The level of maturity results in poor and irrational decision making when the adolescent picks out a piercing or tattoo. Ralph Keyes, a writer for the Christian Science Monitor, reported that tattoos will be passĂŠ or a thing of the past when our generation is gone. He explains that most people getting tattoos these days do so without putting any thought into the art and having meaningless art tattooed onto their skin that they will regret over time (Keyes). The relevance of waiting a few years before marking something permanent onto the skin is major. The amount of maturity a person could and will experience in a year's span will benefit them in the long run. In addition to Ralph Keyes, input straight from the mouth a young adult who has personally dealt with regrets on the ink he put on his skin speaks out to others about the pros of waiting on obeying the laws and reconsidering impulse decisions:
"I WANTED TATTOOS FROM THE TIME I WAS 14," Daniel Goldstein, now 19, told LC. "But I'm happy I didn't get them then." His tastes, he says, changed a good deal between his early teens and last year. But at 18, he had two palm-size religious tattoos penned onto his back at a professional studio. "The desire to get a tattoo is all well and good," he says, "but if it's something that you really want, then you'll be able to wait. The decision needs to be able to stand the test of time (McCollum par. 2).
The majority of adolescents under the age of 18 do not have the ability to think rationally or see the overall repercussions of their actions which is relevant due to the laws implemented in response. This makes the importance of parental consent crucial. Though not all young adults can be classified as not mature enough to make these decisions on their own, the ones that do hold a greater sense of rationality will understand and accept the rules and regulations emplaced for their own good. They will also not take offense to their peers but understand that there are good reasons behind such implications.
The most important aspect of age restriction and parental consent of any minor under the age of 18 wishing to tattoo or pierce their body are to understand that as much as young adults claim to be mature enough to take control of their own body, the majority still stumble and make mistakes. Though learning from mistakes is imperative to growth and development, some mishaps end in life changing altercations. The law against tattoos and piercings for minors is not there to nurse, but to protect them from making bad decisions that society has shown no positive light on. To prevent the youth from putting themselves in danger, it will take the efforts of officials in the affected areas to continue on with campaigns to raise awareness. Having representatives from the same age group will only help get the message across to the young adults questioning authority and testing their boundaries because they are more inclined to listen to someone of the similar age. If successful in following the guidelines set forth for minors, there should be a decrease in the number of "lasered off" butterflies and surgically reconstructed earlobes.
Works Cited
Irvine, Martha. "THE NATION; Teens on Pins and Nails when it Comes to Body Art; Youths
Scratch Tattoos Onto each Other with Rough Implements, which can Lead to Infections
Or Worse. Experts Urge Safety." Los Angeles Times: 0. Mar 14 2004. National Newspapers
Core. Web. 10 Oct. 2012.
Keyes, Ralph. "Tattoos: Indelibly PassĂŠ:" The Christian Science Monitor: 9. Mar 14 2008.
National Newspapers Core. Web. 11 Oct. 2012.
McCollum, Sean. "Tattoos and Piercings: How Old Is Old Enough?" Editorial. Literary
Cavalcade Nov.-Dec.2004: 18-19. Scholastic. Web. 10 Oct. 2012.
"Tattoos and Body Piercings for Minors." Tattooing and Body Piercing. National Conference of
State Legislatures, Sept. 2012. Web. 10 Oct. 2012.
Warren, Jenifer. "Assembly Bill Requires Parental OK for Body Piercing." Los Angeles Times:
3. May 28 1997. National Newspapers Core. Web. 11 Oct. 2012.
Parents, being proud of their student's accomplishments, often tape colorful drawings of butterflies upon their Whirlpool refrigerators among an array of well-written book reports.
Change "student's" to "students'" or perhaps "children's"
these young adolescence long to have their artistic expressions canvassed on a more permanent medium; their bodies.
"Young adolescence" is a little redundant
As the demand for tattoo's and piercing's become prominent within the youth, so does the increase of risk.
Can you say "prominent demand?"; And if you do, I think in the 2nd part of the sentence, you should write "so does the risk."
Not all of the youth should be categorized into the too-young-to-make-a-permanent-decision group, but the backlash and physical damage done by those foolish enough to go behind the law have only added to the importance of age restriction and parental consent.
How? (I know you explained it later on, but it would be best to give a brief explanation right after it to be clear.)
Your paper is very well-written and especially focuses on the health effects of tattoos. It is informative, interesting, and organized. However, your middle paragraphs could do with some more organization (it is very well done already). Try to organize the paragraphs in a more logical and clear way.
