Monday Teeny Poll
Happy Monday! Er, wait, is there such a thing?
Well, my pathetic attempt to have the internet decide if I should cut my hair was all for naught, as a full fifty percent of you claimed that the length of hair all depended on the person. Boo! Why must you be such a pragmatic bunch? Forty three percent said that as long as the hair was in good shape, it is all good. I spend enough money I my hair, it had better be in good shape. A refreshing five percent of you had a strong opinion and voted that after thirty or so, the hair should be shorter. So great, my hair appointment is Friday and I have no idea what I’m going to do. That’s what I get for being wishy-washy.
Today I’ve got a question regarding a couple who were arrested for giving their children homemade tattoos. The children ranged in age from ten to seventeen.
Parents should get to decide what happens to their kids as long as it’s not an issue of life or death or health. As in, no, you are not allowed to deny medical care to your children no matter what your religion says. Oh, and you’re not allowed to keep your kids out of school, no matter what your religion says. Or give them heroin. A sip of beer, yes. Drugs, no.
But in this case, the mother did not consent. It was the father and the stepmother. If the mother had said OK, I would say the State of Georgia should mind its own business and change their law, even though I think giving a HOME TATTOO WITH A GUITAR STRING IS NUTS. So that’s the real issue in this case – that both parents did not consent.
But there are parents who put coca cola in a toddler’s bottle. Should that be illegal? If I were running this place, maybe. I would be a dictator and not even benevolent, which is why you don’t want me in charge cause I do think stupid should be illegal. But we’re a democratic republic and people are allowed to run their own lives and that means they get to make stupid decisions for themselves and for their kids, which is good because boy have I done some dumb things in my life and am I glad they weren’t illegal. The End.
I agree with the gold digger–parents should have the right to make dumb decisions with regards to their children as long as health/welfare are not endangered.
The news story also mentions that it is illegal in Georgia for non-licensed practitioners to tattoo, and it is illegal for anyone under 18 to receive tattoos, so the parents broke more than one law when they did this. Also, as Tgd points out, biological mom didn’t consent.
I was just going to say what marvel said: tattoo artistes must be licensed, and there are serious health issues that can arise when underqualified people give tattoos. I’ve seen what a badly-infected prison tattoo looks like five years later (yes, I do get around a bit) and it is not pretty.
As everyone above says, the problem with the situation was not the ‘kids getting tattoos’ but rather the health/safety issues of a child being tattood in the home. The larger issue — well, parents can get their infants ears pierced, and male circumcision is legal, so I don’t really see what rational ground US society has to forbid parents choosing to perform body modification on children.
Like the gold digger, if I was the dictator I would forbid a whole heck of a lot of stuff — including body modification of kids unless medically necessary — but fortunately I will never be given ultimate power.
Let me ask a question… Should it be legal to take a knife and carve a Bible verse or Celtic Knot in a child’s back? Comparing a tatoo to ear piercing is kind of like comparing a stubbed toe to being knee capped by a 45. Having an extensive back piece (7 hours of torture and extreme pain), let me tell you…that s**t hurts and feels like being carved by a knife for hours. So no. Let the child decide what sort of foolery they will be marred with for life.
When they are marinally old enough to make that decision (25 would be a good age)!
@Jennie: it would not be okay for a parent to inflict a tattoo on an unwilling child–I didn’t think that’s what we were discussing. If a 16 year old wants a tattoo, would you be okay with the parents okaying that? Or should no minors ever get tattoos, parental approval or no?
@marvel -Read the article. The kids ranged in age from 10 to 17. And I would have to know what the 16 year old wanted to tattoo on themselves and where. I have a heavily inked niece that can’t find a job because of some…er…youthful indecretions like “F**K Censorship” on her wrist (I admire the sentiment but understand the management at Cracker Barrel not wanting her for a lunch waitress). For the 16 year old…tell me what and where, then I will decide. For the 10 year old…Hell to the NO!
@Jennie–I did read the article. I interpreted your first response as interpreting the story or question that the parents had given tattoos to the children even though the children didn’t want them–sort of a forced tattooing, as it were. That ain’t right.
The children wanted the tattoos, and the parents obliged. That’s a different issue. (I’m leaving aside the obvious health problems in this specific case, in which the tattooing was done at home with guitar strings. That ain’t right, either.)
But would it have been okay, after checking with biological mom and receiving permission, to take the kids to a licensed tattoo professional and had small, discreet, nonobjectionable tattoos applied to the kids, aged 10-17?
I lean towards letting parents have as much freedom and responsibility for their kids as possible, while protecting health/welfare of said kids. So there’s a line between okay and not-okay, and people will draw that line differently, and I draw the line on the side of allowing (properly applied) tattoos. I wouldn’t let my kids get tattoos, but for other parents it’s really none of my business.
I am sorry for your niece. Some tattoos can be removed with laser treatment. Perhaps she could undo some of her indiscretions? Or perhaps an investment in chunky bracelets would suffice. I’m sure the bracelets are cheaper.
@marvel- I understand your thought process but still will differ. That is what is good about our country and our freedoms. If the 10 year old and the parents agreed that the child could get a swastika tattoo or both agreed that the child was mature enough to get married, based on your arguement, that would be ok. An American 10 year old is not mature enough to think of the consequences of their decisions that will be with them for the long term. As for my niece, yes they can be removed. The process is very expensive and very painful. And the chunky bracelet thing has been tried. Anyway, I respect your opinion but I must disagree.
@Jennie–and you can’t say fairer than that.