The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has some advice for parents where tattoos are concerned. The advice is contained in a clinical report titled “Adolescent and Young Adult Tattooing, Piercing, and Scarification”. It is published in the Harvard Medical School blog among other reputable news outlets.
From the report, it is evident that teenagers and youths are the most candidates for body tattoos. These fall among the demography of Millenials. A 2015 Harris Poll revealed that three in 10 Americans sport a body tattoo of some kind. But parents owe a duty to protect their kids from desired tattoos that could harm them in some way.
Some US states require individuals to be 18 years old or above before getting a tattoo; while some others allow individuals below 18 to get a tattoo with parental permission. This means parents should be better informed about the risks of tattoos and advise kids about its effects before approving tattoos for them. Parents should weigh even the future prospects of their kids before allowing their children to tattoo their bodies.
What parents should know before allowing their kids to go for tattoo
Body tattoos affect how people look at you or relate with you. People generally think tattooed people are dangerous or irresponsible people. And to this extent, many people have lost out at job interviews and failed to secure jobs they actually qualify for because of their tattoos and body piercings.
So the future prospects of your kids to secure professional jobs may be affected by their body tattoos. It is best to consider this fact before getting one or allowing your kid to get one.
Meanwhile, some tattoos may be offensive to certain persons or even alarm others. And you sure don’t want people to avoid your kids like plagues in the neighborhoods or in college.
If your kid must get one, then it is best to be situated where it won’t be so obvious to everyone. Your kids mustn’t forget removing tattoos in some cases are impossible, while in others it could be expensive to do.
It is also best to understand that getting tattoos could cause infections and health issues. These infections are often from unsterilized tattooing instruments and may poison the bloodstream.
So it is best to only go to tattoo artists that are professional and hygiene-aware. Just the way a doctor or hospital sterilizes all their equipment, so should a tattoo professional sterilize all usable instruments.
People eventually hate tattoos and body piercings and even regret sporting one
Generally-speaking, there is body tattooing, scarification and piercing. These are all different and come with various risks. Body tattooing is fairly common, but when a kid begins to scarify or pierce his body indiscriminately, then a doctor should be called in because it could be symptomatic of some mental problems.
The bottom line however is that nearly half of the tattooed people come to hate it later. Some even regret getting tattooed. Some say they are separated from a lover they tattooed his name, or the tattoo no longer appears meaningful.
Others say wearing a permanent tattoo no longer matches their current lifestyle and a few say there is nothing professional with sporting a tattoo. There are always some short-term or long-term implications of wearing permanent tattoos in obvious body parts.