My two-year-old just learned to say “tattoo.” I have two tattoos, and he’s very interested in them. I’m not sure he understands what tattoos are — maybe he thinks Mommy’s skin just grew these intricate designs, like he grew the mole on his leg that he’s also very interested in.
Maybe one day he’ll want a tattoo of his own, and if he does, there are six rules:
Minimum age: 16
I’ll admit this is kind of arbitrary, but it seems intuitively to be a good age. It’s when I got my first tattoo. Whether I made a good decision on it is up for debate, but that’s where the other rules come in.
I get to approve the design
I don’t have to love it, but it does have to be a good-quality, aesthetically pleasing tattoo.
… and location
There’s a good chance any tattoo done at age sixteen will eventually become regrettable, so it has to be some place that can be easily hidden. No neck tattoos. Obviously no face tattoos. No hand tattoos. No huge chest pieces. Forearm maybe, but we’ll see.
No names of people, bands, logos, cartoon characters, or political symbols
Ask anyone who got any one of those inked into their skin in their teens and I guarantee that most of them don’t like that band any more, don’t see that person any more, or aren’t quite so in love with the Tasmanian Devil. The tattoo I got when I was sixteen was a purple anarchy symbol on my ankle. Though I still sometimes read some of the great anarchist authors, my beliefs have changed. Luckily I was able to say that anarchy symbol was just an “A” for my first initial until I got it covered up a few years ago.
Books explaining tattoos, piercings, and other body modification
My husband and I both have tattoos, and our son is just used to them. He likes fake tattoos (he gives them to himself and... Read more
I get to see the shop and the artist’s portfolio
This is pretty common-sense. It has to be a shop that sterilizes its equipment properly, and an artist who is actually an artist. Same goes for piercings. No mall piercings for my kids.
There will be a waiting period
Hang your tattoo design on your wall and look at it for at least two months. I follow this practice myself. Unfortunately it means I haven’t yet got my next tattoo because none of my ideas have passed the two-month test. I’m all for impulsivity but not when it comes to something that’s going to be on you the rest of your life.
Maybe my kid won’t like these rules. Maybe he won’t want a tattoo at all. For now, I keep telling him when he pokes at my tattoos and says “Flowers. Tattoo. Mommy” in his sweet little voice that, if he wants, he can have one some day, too.
My dad, who has no tattoos and has never wanted one, had pretty much the same rules for me! I got my first at 14. I recently had a half sleeve added to the arm and despite the first tattoo not being the best work, I didn’t get it covered and my artist that added the rest of the half sleeve, completely respected that and incorporated the tattoo into the design.
I have somewhere in the vicinity of 27 tattoos. Some of them I thought long and hard about (my first tattoo I designed when I was 13 and got when I was 18) and some of them were totally spur of the moment. Some of them are fantastic, some of them are awful. I don’t regret a one of them (Well, I’ve covered my ex’s name up with another design, but I don’t exactly “regret” having his name put on my body, I did it at the time with crazy ass love. I just don’t want to look at it every day anymore.) They are part of who I am, even the bad ones.
Also, I know that rules vary by country, but in the US there is nowhere that I know of that you can get a tattoo at 16. Even with parental permission, even if the parent is standing right there saying “yes, do it.” You must be 18. And any place that is willing to break the law to tattoo someone underage is probably not following any of the other rules they are supposed to, either, including those about sterilization and cleanliness.
I’m in Canada, where as far as I know you can get one at any age with parental permission. If anyone else knows for sure, let me know. When I got mine at 16, the artist needed both a signed note and to have a phone conversation with my mom.
No you can’t. I know most of the shops in my city won’t tattoo minors (under 18), the only shops who will tattoo a minor with parental consent are the shifty shops you would want to avoid anyways.
My partner is a tattoo artist; I consider myself to be a collector. I love the artwork, and would fully support our children getting tattoos – but not before they’re 18, and not without carefully researching their artist’s portfolio and certifications. I hope that growing up within the tattoo community will provide us with sufficient opportunities to differentiate between talented artists committed to their craft, and those who make a living off tattooing flash to varying degrees of competency. While I don’t think I’d feel comfortable imposing rules on independent adult children, it would break my heart to find out they’d gotten tattooed by someone without the appropriate training and skills, and I can only hope that having lots of conversations about it will help them make informed decisions that are respectful of their bodies.
I agree with most of what was said, but the cartoons bit. I’m a geek at heart, and most of my tattoos are going to be geeky (I already have a binary one around my ankle). I don’t regret a single one I have and I’m not going to regret my future ones because they are always a part of me and the parts of my life.
My Mum took me to get my first tattoo (age 19) it was a spur of the moment thing but something I had wanted for a long time. She took me to her tattooist. The tat is somewhere discreet and it is to honour my grandfather (1st anniversary of losing him is when I got it.) All the rest of my planned tats are about my family and the lessons they taught me. My biggest advice when people ask is don’t pick something off the wall – just means there are a bunch of other people with the exact same thing,(to me tats should be about personal expression) make it meaningful to them, as for location take into account what career they want (eg. if you want a wrist tattoo make it small enough to cover with a watch band in case you go into a conservative career later on – just because you want to be a rock star now does not mean you will make it nor that is what you will do for your whole life) and the shop should smell like a hospital. Showing them a quick Google search on what happens if it is unhygienic quickly makes them agree with the last one. The way I was raised was strict but a focus on informed decisions. It is what I learned and still hold to today. Parent’s role isn’t friend, jailer or judge it is to teach a child life skills so that when they are adults they can make there way in the world, one of those skills is to make sure any decision they make is an informed one. If at 18 they know the risks and the information and still choose to do it. It is on them and does not reflect on you.
I got my 2nd tattoo as a 21st birthday present to myself. It is the Hylian shield from The Legend of Zelda. I got it because it is my personal symbol of protection, and because I feel like I grew up in Hyrule, I spent so much time playing Zelda. It is also a symbol of my affinity for video games and geek culture in general.
Symbols/logos/cartoon characters can be meaningful and important. I’ve had my tattoo for five years and I love it as much today as I did the day I got it. I had also thought about it for about 10 years before getting it. As long as it’s thought out, it’s a good idea!
I think these are very good very reasonable rules. I wish my parents where more open to the idea I would have though about it longer.
I only got one tattoo and it had a sports team name and the person later left for enemy ground which made for a horrible tattoo lol I got it redone into a coverup tattoo and now I have 6 tattoos 2 on my sleeves , 2 forearms and 2 ankles I am happy with them. A word of advice a high quality black ink design seem to go the furthest and look better longer.
I have to disagree with a few of the rules. My parents paid for me to get a neck tattoo when I was 16. I had found the design only two weeks earlier, yet I still love it years later. If you are going to impose so many rules, you may as well just ask your child to wait until they are a legal adult.
I got my first tattoo when I was 51. My daughter was going to have her first and I told her that if she was that if she found an unisex tattoo and I would get the same as hers and take the heat from my wife. We had them done at the same time by a well known tatto Artist located near us. My daughter pick out a Irish knot because I am half Irish and half Swedish. I got my next one with my son. It is an Norse compass from the Swedes that were Vikings. I also have one of Odin’s horns. Then a got one done of my Bull Terriers. My father was in the Navy 33 years from 1940 until 1973. He never got a tatto when it seems everyone in the Navy was getting them. Here are some of the ones I have.