Nowadays, people seem to have a rather relaxed view towards tattoos. While not everyone is a big fan, they often don’t care much if others decide to adorn their bodies with ink.
However, when it comes to children getting tattoos, society seems to have a pretty strong opinion, and that is that it shouldn’t be done. Or at least it seemed like it after seeing the backlash a tattoo artist in Arizona received after tattooing a nine-year-old. Scroll down to find his story and people’s opinions on the situation below.
Nowadays, it’s not uncommon to see people of different ages with at least one tattoo
This tattoo artist received backlash for tattooing a nine-year-old
The artist shared the girl’s story, revealing that what she initially wanted was a tattoo of the president on her neck
Many parents say they “would absolutely not consider it” if their underaged children asked for permission to get a tattoo
Image credits: Image by Freepik (not the actual photo)
Nowadays, it’s in no way unusual for people to get tattoos, even when they cover most of their body. According to last year’s data from the Pew Research Center, close to a third of American adults have a tattoo, and nearly a fourth of them have more than one. The data revealed that the age group with the most tattoos is those between 30 and 49 years of age, 46% of whom have ink on their bodies. Their younger counterparts, those under 30, are not that far behind, with 41% of the age group showcasing at least one tattoo.
While it’s not uncommon for adults to get tattoos, children or teens getting them is frowned upon by many. Though that doesn’t mean that youngsters don’t want them. The C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital National Poll on Children’s Health found that many parents were asked for permission from their teen children to get a tattoo – 27% of parents of teens aged 16 to 18, and 11% of parents of teens 13 to 15 years of age. The poll also revealed that children of 5% of surveyed parents had already gotten a tattoo.
According to the aforementioned source, the majority of moms and dads were not in favor of their children inking their bodies. Asked how they would react if their child wanted to get a tattoo at the age of 16-17 years, 78% of parents said they would absolutely not consider it. However, roughly 10% of parents didn’t think it was that bad of an idea; they believed that a tattoo would be okay as a reward or as a way to mark a special occasion, or if it was in a place on one’s body that could be hidden.
In most states, teens can’t get a tattoo without their parents’ consent
Image credits: Image by Freepik (not the actual photo)
The C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital National Poll on Children’s Health found that the majority of parents believe that tattoos should be regulated, when it comes to the age of the person that can get them. Roughly a quarter of them said that 16-17 should be the minimum age required to get a tattoo, and even then – only with the parent’s consent; the rest of the three-quarters believed that the age limit should be 18.
Luckily for the tattoo-opposing parents, in most places in the US, teens can’t get a tattoo without their permission (though in some of them, the age at which teens can get a tattoo with their parent’s permission is lower than 16 or 17). In some states, such as Alaska or South Carolina, just to name a couple, they can’t get one until they turn 18, even if they’ve somehow convinced their parents that it’s a good idea. According to the World Population Review, Nevada is the only state that has no legally defined minimum age for those who want to get a tattoo.
In the description next to his video, the tattoo artist noted that in the state of Arizona, where he was working, it was legal for the nine-year-old to get a tattoo, as long as it was done with her parents’ consent and wasn’t forced. While no one was seemingly forcing anyone into anything, the artist did dissuade the girl from her initial idea of getting a tattoo of the president on her neck. In the end, they decided to opt for an American flag on the girl’s arm instead, which she came to touch up on a year later, after having turned 10. Many people in the comments believed that that was not a suitable age at which a person could get a tattoo.
Many people criticized both the tattoo artist and the girl’s parents
Some, however, didn’t think it was that big of a deal
The salon that the artist was working at received negative reviews online
