Teenagers and Tattoos
In the article On Teenagers and Tattoos, A. Martin, MD. explains some of the reasons why tattoos and piercings are seemingly gaining more popularity with urban youth. Martin MD makes the point that legislation to curtail professional tattooing of minors, teenagers have turned to homemade or what is referred to as “jailhouse” or “self-made” tattoos (Martin MD, 2012 pg. 320). It is alleged that teenagers may desire to obtain body decoration for a variety of reasons. Some benign reasons teens decide to get piercings and tattoos is to establish an identity, challenge parental influences, and in an attempt to ward an unfavorable reaction from peers and others that may give the teens a sense of power over their changing bodies. …show more content…
He refers to piercings as being a less permanent way for adults to bond with children during this time of excessive hormonal imbalance and rapid physical change. Martin MD, also makes note that piercings may be a temporary solution to tattoos with regard to their less permanent nature, but may also be considered a gateway to the more permanent tattoo (Martin, 2012 pg. 321). Also noted was the fact that during this upheaval of the adolescent condition, most decisions are made with an then premature emotional component that may be reconsidered at a later date, leaving the tattooed with limited alternatives for …show more content…
A tattoo to show difference from the masses. A tattoo is forever and continues to make a statement long after one has outgrown certain ideas or ideals. Teens have a lot of changes that go on in their bodies during puberty until adulthood. Some adolescents may get a self-made tattoo to make a statement of who they are and what they believe. Some tattoos depicting fierce animals and pictorials of death and morbidity tend to keep others away. Martin mentioned a teen stating she wanted piercings, “If I don’t fit in it’s because I say so” (Martin, 2013 pg. 321). The problem with marking one’s body at an early age is the fact that ideals change, feelings change, and times change, but the message a tattoo shows to the world does not. I remember at 13, I wanted a pair of shoes that looked essentially like cowboy boots that met the circus. Today I would have been mortified if I had a full length tattoo of those boots I coveted
In the article On Teenagers and Tattoos, A. Martin, MD. explains some of the reasons why tattoos and piercings are seemingly gaining more popularity with urban youth. Martin MD makes the point that legislation to curtail professional tattooing of minors, teenagers have turned to homemade or what is referred to as “jailhouse” or “self-made” tattoos (Martin MD, 2012 pg. 320). It is alleged that teenagers may desire to obtain body decoration for a variety of reasons. Some benign reasons teens decide to get piercings and tattoos is to establish an identity, challenge parental influences, and in an attempt to ward an unfavorable reaction from peers and others that may give the teens a sense of power over their changing bodies. …show more content…
He refers to piercings as being a less permanent way for adults to bond with children during this time of excessive hormonal imbalance and rapid physical change. Martin MD, also makes note that piercings may be a temporary solution to tattoos with regard to their less permanent nature, but may also be considered a gateway to the more permanent tattoo (Martin, 2012 pg. 321). Also noted was the fact that during this upheaval of the adolescent condition, most decisions are made with an then premature emotional component that may be reconsidered at a later date, leaving the tattooed with limited alternatives for …show more content…
A tattoo to show difference from the masses. A tattoo is forever and continues to make a statement long after one has outgrown certain ideas or ideals. Teens have a lot of changes that go on in their bodies during puberty until adulthood. Some adolescents may get a self-made tattoo to make a statement of who they are and what they believe. Some tattoos depicting fierce animals and pictorials of death and morbidity tend to keep others away. Martin mentioned a teen stating she wanted piercings, “If I don’t fit in it’s because I say so” (Martin, 2013 pg. 321). The problem with marking one’s body at an early age is the fact that ideals change, feelings change, and times change, but the message a tattoo shows to the world does not. I remember at 13, I wanted a pair of shoes that looked essentially like cowboy boots that met the circus. Today I would have been mortified if I had a full length tattoo of those boots I coveted