Many parents have strong opinions about their teen's piercings.

Parents that are asked by their teens for piercings often respond with something like, “You’re destroying yourself or your face,” or “Who are you trying to be?”

In the United States, you must be 14 and have a parent’s consent in order to get any sort of piercing, otherwise you must be 18 or older.

In my opinion, I don’t think it should be required to get a parent’s consent even if you are under the age of 18 and want a body piercing.

I think by the time you are 13 and you understand the risks and responsibilities of piercings, you should be able to get piercings without a parent’s consent.

A 13-year-old girl is allowed to walk into a clothing store and buy whatever articles of clothing she wants for herself, so why would it be so bad for a 13-year-old girl to walk into a tattoo parlor and get her lip pierced on her own?

If she’s paying for it and she likes it, what’s the big deal?

Piercings are a form of self-expression, especially in the teenage years.

I think I look good with my lip piercing and I feel like it goes with me and my personality.

Many teenagers feel this way about their piercings, and piercings in general. Why do you have to be a certain age to express yourself?

The age requirement should be lowered for piercings because they are 100 percent temporary.

I can understand why parents would be opposed to their children getting tattoos, because tattoos are permanent. If you don’t want them anymore, you must get them lasered off--which is extremely painful and highly expensive.

As for a piercing, you can just simply take it out and the hole closes within a matter of days or hours.

Yes, piercings are very likely to scar but if the teen understands they are taking this risk before getting the piercing, it shouldn’t be a problem. They chose to have a piercing, which means they also chose the risk of getting a scar.

Almost a year ago now, I wanted the middle of my bottom lip pierced (a vertical labret), and when I approached my mother about it, she was completely opposed to the idea.

She said, “You are going to ruin your face, Azia. Facial piercings are so ugly, and they leave scars. You want that? You want scars on your face, forever? And they require lots of taking-care of, which you won’t do. The answer is no.”

This just goes to show that parents don’t like the way piercings look and parents don’t trust that their kid is mature and responsible enough to take care of a piercing.

I feel like if the parent doesn’t like the way it looks, that’s their problem, not the teen’s.

If a minor wants a piercing, they should be completely aware of the risks they’re taking when they get a piercing. And when they do, what’s the problem?

I finally convinced my mom to let me get my lip pierced.

If more people who agree with me spoke out, the law could change so that you can be younger than 18 to get a piercing without parent’s consent; possibly 14 or 15. I think the early teen years are fine for getting piercings and making your own choices.