Nowadays there are so many ways to change your appearance: tattoos, piercing, surgery, and so much more.
Typically you have to be a legal adult and wait till your 18th birthday, but there is a way around waiting 18 years. That is to get a guardian to sign their name saying yes they can get a piercing or a tattoo as a minor.
“My parents are fine with tattoos as long as I wait until I am 18, I can get any piercing I want, they do not care,” Alex Schroeder said.
Piercings are easily removable, and depending on the piercing all that is left is a tiny hole, but tattoos are typically forever unless they go through an expensive removal process.
“I think it needs to be thoughtful, I guess just through my own experience I wish I had been a little more grown up about something I put on my body permanently,” Colleen Bevacqua said, “I think your people need to be more thoughtful about where they put it on their body.”
Schroeder said a reason why her parents will not sign off on a tattoo is because they do not want her making a permanent decision she can regret, but when she is 18 they know it is her choice.
Getting a tattoo is an expensive and painful process but regretting it and wanting it removed is even more expensive. Having your parents sign off to get you one puts them at fault for allowing the tattoo to happen.
Piercings are cheaper and not as painful or as long a process as a tattoo, they are also a lot easier to get removed.
“I do not have a problem with piercings, the only one that upsets me is the septum because it reminds me of a bull,” Bevacqua said.
Another huge factor to think about when getting a tattoo is the health risks. Getting a tattoo there is always a chance of an allergic reaction or infections.
Teenagers’ skin is also still developing and may react differently than adults.
Also getting a tattoo as a minor is different from state to state, in California they have to be 18 years old, while in Idaho they can be 14 years old with parental consent.
“I was 17 when I got my tattoo, it is the birth and death of my cousin who died at 16, most of my family got one,” Clive Hobbs said. “I think my parents would have signed off for other reasons as they are pretty open to tattoos. I think 16 is fine if there is a good reason to go with it, other than that I would say 18.”
Others think a good age for a tattoo is older because you have no knowledge and a better idea of what they could want on their body forever.
“I think teenagers should hold off on getting tattoos until they’re 25, when their brains are fully developed,” Denise Novak said. “If you still want the same tattoo at that age, then it’s probably a solid choice—go for it!”
Tattoos are also not for everyone and some people never get them.
“When I get older I think it’ll look really bad,” Charlee Friddle said. “Also for religious reasons about not putting ink in my body, but that is just my personal opinion and I’m not going to judge others. They are not for me but for other people, I think they’re great.”
