4 year old getting pierced ears at Superdrug

[Childpiercinggate]

I was browsing in Superdrug this lunchtime and saw a small child getting their ears pierced. It was awful, the mother was holding the child down and she was yelling at the top of her lungs. I was in the makeup section at the other end of the shop and stopped in my tracks as I’ve never heard anything like it.

I asked to speak to the manager as I was so shocked that they do this in store. The manager told me it was nothing to do with me and the mother had given consent.

Ive written to the head office although I know nothing will be done.

Yes you were unreasonable - mind your own business
No you’re not unreasonable - you’re right, children of that age shouldn’t be getting piercings

Oh that is really upsetting.
How can that be legal?

Those adults doing that to the poor little girl on the video should be done for child abuse.

Besides the initial pain (a good enough reason in itself, and the fact it looks tacky AF) there's other less serious reasons I wouldn't do it to my kid but maybe I'm just overly risk averse. Has anyone here ever had the back of an earring pinned into their neck by accident? Common culprits can be falling on it, siblings whacking you round the ear, etc. anyway, it fucking hurts and I reckon that'd be quite a nasty pain on a little one. Likewise for getting something caught on it and pulling it. Toddlers aren't known for being careful. My kid managed to injure herself on a breadstick last week.

Im not getying into a row, each parent has the right to mke the choice they feel is right for their kids.

But just so that you (and others) know, the modern way from a proper piercer is a flat back, like a lip labret.

I don't really understand the gun issue. But it's a long time since I got mine pierced with a gun in the late 70s when I was 11. I remember it stinging but never had any problems and they've always been fine.

Me too!

You don't seem to have answered my question, and I think you misunderstand what I'm getting at. I am not passing a judgement on what happened, or didn't happen. I'd like to understand whether the law allows a person to be pinned down against their will whilst their body, or specifically an earlobe, is pierced. From my layperson's view, this seems to meet criteria for assault and/or ABH. I hope someone knowledgeable can shed some light on whether pinning someone down to pierce their ears apparently against their will is fine and dandy legally whilst pinning someone down without piercing their ears would likely be considered an assault, and if so, why the law is as it is.

@CommentNow that's definitely a better way! Still, things could get caught on those though?

Thanks for your time in responding, but can you explain why the action described in the OP, pinning a person down and piercing their body (presumably against their will), doesn't constitute assault and/or ABH? My understanding is that if I pinned a person down against their will, that'd likely be considered an assault, and if I made a hole elsewhere in someone's body against their will, that'd probably be ABH. It seems strange to me that the combination of pinning a person down against their will and also making holes in their earlobes means neither of these apply.

So you're okay with holding down a screaming child who can't consent to permanent body modification? Because small children can't really consent - they don't have capacity.

Just because it's done in hospital in some places doesn't make it right, fool.

@IClaudine Thanks for posting that article.

@Dollenganger333 @Differentstarts
Apparently South Yorkshire Police understand why this sort of scenario might be concerning. Investigation launched after girl filmed being pinned down to have ears pierced | Metro News

I don't agree with piercing children's ears and I would never restrain my child for a piercing as its bad enough for medical reasons however there is no laws to protect children from having their ears pierced at any age and its a parents choice. Maybe the law will change in the future as there are plenty of petitions online to sign for this. The problem I have with people on this thread is people comparing a child having their ears pierced with child abuse, sexual abuse and rape. This is massively insulting to everyone who has suffered years and years of abuse.

I can’t go into some shops that do piercing in full view of the shop and see babies and young children screaming. They should not be allowed to hold children down

This was 3 years ago and after investigation there was no charges and the case was dropped. Rightly or wrongly it is a parents decision

@Differentstarts Thanks for your response. You'll see at no point had I compared this to 'sexual abuse and rape'.

As for child abuse: assault is, I think, considered a subset of abuse, and if these actions were done to an adult, or an unrelated child rather than one's own child, I doubt this would be lawful. From this perspective, I would consider (under normal English usage, if not legally) the action described by the OP to have been an abuse against a child. The linked instance of pinning a child down and piercing them against their will led to a police investigation, which is rather different from being laughed at and accused of wasting police time, albeit with no charges subsequently being brought, presumably because the law permits this behaviour.

This seems bizarre and inconsistent to me, and I'd still be interested to understand how/why the law is such that what happened to the child in the linked incident was legally just fine. E.g. is it because it's considered that there's some greater good that comes from the child being pierced? With vaccination, which has been mentioned at various points above, the earlier a child gets vaccinated, the earlier they are protected from the thing they are vaccinated from, and the benefit is presumably considered to outweigh the harm that pinning them down to have the vaccination, and the pain associated with the vaccination, would cause. Perhaps similar thinking applies - having pierced earlobes allows the child to benefit from decorating their earlobe for a longer period of time, and this is sufficiently beneficial to outweigh the harm of having to pin them down so that this can be done before they are fully able to understand the benefits of having pierced earlobes and choose for themself to be pierced.

@rzb l think the issue is that many things are not unlawful, because there was no expectation of such things occurring. ln many ways legislation is a catch up process; consideration is also given to any possible disadvantages. For example there have been several abhorrent examples given on this thread which occurred in public. If these happened behind closed doors, would it be worse? NB: l am not necessarily saying it would be worse, merely wondering if it could be.

😂 so people who get their kids ears pierced young are not decent parents?

I've heard it all now.

so people who get their kids ears pierced young are not decent parents?

If the child has to be pinned down for this to happen, then yes, they are not decent parents.

Then you’ve not heard much have you!

Yes it’s a shitty parenting choice.

Caring more about vanity than a child’s wellbeing is not something a decent parent does.

You've heard it all. So listen to what you are hearing.

People who decide that a child’s ears should be pierced against the will of the child are not decent parents.

There is no benefit to child or parents. So let the child choose in her own time. Ear piercing is not wrong, forced ear piercing or ear piercing without consent is.

I can remember being bullied all through primary and secondary school because I never had it done. My mum didn’t agree with piercing a child’s ears. Being picked on was horrible but now I’m so glad that I don’t have holes in my ears. Some people even do it to babies😕

I love how some posters are blabbering on about it's being the parents right to do this ...

Sorry - parents choice

Like a pp suggested - just buy a doll

Allowing children to be unnecessarily harmed is everyone’s business, babe.