Boys and ear piercings

[earspiercedornot]

My son aged 8 would like his ears pierced and has asked for it a lot over the last year. Im unsure. Do boys get them done? Is it both or just one?? I would rather he didnt (as hes a boy and im worried about bullying) but he really wants too! Help

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I personally wouldn’t let either of my children, and I have both sexes, have their ears pierced at 8. It’s too young. Mine will have to wait until they get to secondary school.

My dd asked and asked and got them done in the summer before year 7. It's taken a couple of months for them to heal well and she still struggles occasionally putting them in and taking them out for games and pe. If you're going to let him I would take him the evening he breaks up for summer so it has the best chance of healing well under your supervision.

Eight is too young, it's irrelevant what other parents have allowed. Make up your own mind.

I think they should be able to look after it themselves, so probably secondary age. No younger than Y6.

I don’t like them on small children of either sex. My 8yo daughter has asked once for them (to match her friends) but she plays rugby multiple times a week and I don’t want her having a horrible injury with them, and I doubt she’d clean them properly at her age given she’s a soap dodger at the best of times.

@Bouncyball23
"Do they also look tacky on girls??"

To me they do. That's why my 16 rule applied to both my children.

I think 8 is too young.

I always said mine could do them by the time they were old enough to reliably look after the wound (because it is a wound) themselves. I think that would usually be about 11/12.

By the time my Dd was this age she’d gone off the idea, although tbh she would probably have been able to stick to a wound care routine sooner.

I wouldn’t let my ds9 get them done now because I think he’s too young - but he’s not brilliant at reliably remembering a routine.

16 is so ott.

And neither had the urge to rebel and wander into town at 14 and have it done anyway? Poor show from them.

I've definitely noticed earrings coming back into fashion for men. Usually accompanied by a mullet. It's a look that seems very 1987, which may as well be 1887 for those partaking in this trend I suppose.

It doesn’t matter if “everyone else has it done” or if he “really really wants it”.

He doesn’t understand the choice he wants to make and it’s your job as his parent to say no. To do otherwise would be a huge disservice to him.

Honestly I think they look tacky on all small children. I had mine done at 10 and although I did keep up the after care, I did fiddle with them and they got very infected.

I also would never take a child to get a gun piercing as it’s not hygienic and causes trauma to the earlobes.

I think 12 is reasonable?

Whatever age you decide is fine if you can all keep it clean and make sure it’s a needle piercing. I had my ears pierced as a child as it traditional in my culture and I’m so glad I did as I love wearing earrings.

One benefit of piercing as a child is those piercings once healed will become slower to close in later life. Compared to the additional ear piercings I got done as an adult which seem to start to close faster if I’ve not worn earrings in them for a while.

@Scruffington I said 16 because I knew I'd cave! Amazingly, I held out to 14 for both. But probably only because they both played a lot of sport and it was difficult to find a window....

I’d suggest he waits till secondary school and then gets it done in the summer holiday. This was what I did with my daughter as well.

You can let him, but you also have to buy a CP company T-shirt and an electric scooter to complete the look. Oh and a cross body bag.

My son has one ear done. My gay uncle has both his pierced. Surely it's just preference though.

My daughter begged and begged to get hers done and I let her when she was 7. She's a sensible kid and although I helped her clean them she was very strict about reminding me and getting all the stuff ready to do it, and she never ever fiddled with them. She's nearly 9 now and still loves them. They are well healed and she's sensible about taking them out for sport. I knew she would be good at looking after them, otherwise I'd have made her wait a few years, and I insisted on a proper piercer using a needle.

My mum made me wait till I was in first year of secondary and I was literally the last in my class (all girls school) to have them done even though I desperately wanted them.

Boys with pierced ears are pretty common in my daughter's school from the age of about 7 or 8. Usually only one although it's not necessarily the left one.

My boy who was 8 in June had both of his ears pierced in the summer. He's got long hair and a no f*cks given attitude. No one has mentioned about him having both ears done and he rocks it. We had them pierced with needles at the local piercing place and he took it like a champ. He now wears black studs and I think it looks cool.

All you naysayers who hate boys having their ears pierced need a reality check.

I'm making my 8 year old girl wait for a year or two.
And I would be the same if she was a he.
I want her to be old enough to look after them properly.

DS had his ears pierced a couple of years ago when he was 14. He'd been asking since he was about 8 but I'd told him 14 for piercings, which, thankfully, he respected. He has since had his septum pierced as well. I never wanted to stop him (his body, after all), just for him to be mature enough to take full responsibility for caring for the hygiene aspects .

8 is too young for boys or girls imo.
I really dislike earrings on boys but I can’t articulate exactly why.

When DS1 (now 14) was about 6 he wanted his done. I said that although I would normally support the notion that boys can do anything girls can do and vice versa, I was going to be a bit sexist on that one and I was sorry, but I thought that people judge adults with pierced ears differently based on sex. Men with pierced ears (especially just one) are seen a certain way whereas for women it is totally socially accepted without question.

Honestly 8 years later - I think I was wrong and out of date. It is much more acceptable for young men to have one/both ears pierced now and I could have let him do it with no issues. If you'd let a girl do it, I'd let him do it.

I don't think boys get bullied for having pierced ears at school any more. It's seen as cool.

Haha thought you had to be 18 for a tattoo unlike ear piercing 😅

What looking after does it need that an 8 year old can't do?
Even at teen age a parent would double check its been bathed an turned so what's the difference?