One of the most noticeable signs of altering cultural norms for today’s youth has been the increase in body art.
An average of 4.5% of all teenagers had tattoos in the mid 1900s, according to the American College of Nurse Practitioners 2006 National Clinical Conference. That percentage has risen by 10% over the last 11 years. It also shows the average teen with body art is 16.8 years of age. The legal age without parental consent in most states is 18.
Teens are obtaining their body art without parental consent by going to an amateur tattoo studio. Jef McGreevy, tattoo artist at Totem Tattoo believes teenagers should wait until legal age to get their first tattoo. “We don’t even do parental consent here, the only way you can get a tattoo here is if you are over 18,” says McGreevy.
McGreevy thinks most teenagers getting their first tattoo have thought out the consequences. “Most kids that come in here really have thought it out but there are always the few that are ignorant,” he says.
“Some teens don’t realize the significance that the tattoo will bring. When they go to get a job and they have a visible tattoo, they run the risk of loosing the job because of the tattoo. An employer isn’t looking at how cool your tattoo is they are looking to see how you will represent the business,” explains McGreevy.
Businesses are willing to turn down an applicant who meets the requirements due to a visible tattoo. “In our company we have policies stating that tattoos visible to the public that can be considered offensive are not permitted to be visible,” says State Police Sergeant Walter Witkowski.
Body art is becoming more popular each day; however, teens need to consider the long term affects before going with the needle.

DO
- Research your artist
- Keep it hidden
- Think of the future consequences
- Think about what image the tattoo will display to others
- Value hygiene and take proper care of the fresh tattoo
- Select an original design
- Shy away from names of significant others
- Wait it out until you are legal
- Know it will hurt


DON’T
- Try to hide it from parents
- Forget to ask questions
- Choose a symbol unless you’re absolutely certain what it represents
- Have a procedure in unsanitary conditions
- Ignore an infection
- Choose trendy tattoos
- Be afraid