4 year old getting pierced ears at Superdrug

Yeah it’s gross. A child in my DD’s class got her ears pierced as a reward for passing her times tables tests. She’s 9.

Makes you wonder where they go from here. My DD asked me, I was a firm no. You can chose to do that when you are old enough to consent.

"Just following orders" has long been a pretty contentious defence...!

Mn hates piercing guns but in my experience it’s less painful and heals faster than those done with a needle.

I had mine done with a gun at the age of 10 (80s) and I didn't really feel anything at all. It was the type where they shoot the earring in. They healed up no problem at all. Still have same holes 40 years on 😁

The culture thing is a funny one. Generally a supposed reason for an adult inflicting pain on a small child.

Child labour, child marriage, FGM.

Culture, innit?

I would actually cry if I saw this happening. It is abuse, plain and simple. Pain shouldn't be caused to a child unless it is for a medical reason. Punching holes through a child's body part? So fucking unnecessary. It should be illegal until they're old enough to consent. Gillick competence comes to mind.

Proper piercing technique on a baby is fine. I had mine done, it means I didn't have to do it later, no issues.

You know you don't have to pierce your ears right? I don't have holes in my ear lobes and I'm glad no one made that decision for me. At age 11 I thought it was bullshit that all the girls were expected to do this but none of the boys were. I haven't changed my mind.

Surely what the shop staff were doing would be classed as assult?

It's not the shop staff's fault, but it is the fault of the shop. They could easily have a policy of not piercing the ears of children below a certain age.

Dd was 6 when she begged and begged for them to be done. I eventually agreed as all her friends had them done . She was desperate. But was on the agreement if she freaked out , was scared , or anything prior. She wouldn't have them done. And by that I mean as the OP described .
I found a local studio that didn't use a gun. Who were highly recommended. Yes it cost 3x the likes of Claire and superdrug. But less risk of infection and less brutal.

The person to blame is the (chav) mother.
I feel slightly sorry for the shop staff, they’ll be following orders.

I agree that in that vein, anything a child can't properly consent to should be considered child abuse. When I hear about people younger than 18 having relationships, I feel quite uncomfortable and wouldn't disagree that it's child abuse. Would be good to see it being outlawed

This.

If parliament bans smacking In England then it needs to ban this. I refuse to accept that a smack on the bum is worse than a parent holding a screaming child down to have their ears pierced.

I don't see how it's even legal to have this done.

Just so distrubing- and yes, she 'survived' mathanxiety. And your point is.

Barbaric and should be illegal.

That logic would only work if it was the law that every girl had to get her ears pierced by the age of 18. No one "has to do it later" at all. Only people that want to. And a baby or small child can't consent to it. Neither do they give a shit about it either. It is pain purely for the vanity of the parents. It's looks bloody vile anyway

I don't understand how this isn't illegal and classed as child abuse

Am I the only one wondering how the mothers who couldn't bear to watch ear piercing managed to give birth, deal with umbilical cords, etc?

I immediately thought of this. I go to Meadowhall regularly and remember when this video went viral.

It’s disgusting. Fair enough if children are secondary school aged and understand the few minutes of pain, but to force a young child to have their ears pierced is barbaric.

Of course it hurts! They just can't express that other than by crying and babies crying is so socially acceptable pain wouldn't necessarily be considered as the cause.

It worked perfectly well for all my DDs. They asked for it to be done before First Communion (aged 7ish). In fact, they all went back for more piercings when they were teens, and got the extra piercings done in both ears at that point too.

Exactly. Proper piercing technique on a baby is fine. I had mine done, it means I didn't have to do it later, no issues.

Absolutely not on a 4 year old!! They don't want earrings (and if they say they do, they won't next week). Too scary and painful.

Either birth or 11+

Wow- I don't care what your culture is, your country of origin, your religion- abuse is abuse, end of (ouch, even more so int he case of circumcision).

It's absolutely awful not just the act itself but having a young child who could have them pulled or ripped during play makes me feel sick.

How old? Her idea or yours?

Not their children's, their daughters'. Why is that?