Children and Tattoos
18.05.12
A Georgia mother was recently arrested for allowing her 10-year-old to be tattooed . In Georgia, it is illegal to tattoo a person age 17 or younger. Parental consent is inconsequential. The fact that this child was tattooed speaks volumes regarding the ability to get a tattoo under the age of 18. I did notice that his mother's mug shot clearly displays a tattoo upon her neck. I have always pointed out that children mimic what they see. One only needs to look at professional athletes and one can see an endless array of "body art." We know that children idolize sports heroes, which brings us to ask these two questions:
1. "What is a hero?"
2. "How accountable should our sports icons be regarding behaviors both on and off the field?"
The first question is a matter of opinion. The second question has more implications since we know that children emulate their role models. The fact that this 10-year-old’s mother surrendered her parental duty and allowed her child to receive a tattoo is an example of poor judgment and an example of parents being a friend to the child instead of a parent. I recently took care of a patient whose mother had several tattoos on her breast, which made her unable to breast feed her infant. Her response to not being able to suckle her infant was “the tattoo artist didn't tell me that I couldn't breast feed" and my response was “the tattoo artist wasn't concerned about your parenting abilities." As I always mention, it is incumbent upon the parents to be their child's advocate and put their children first (because an unscrupulous tattoo artist won't).
Source: Patch.com