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

When I was out last weekend I saw 2 babies with pierced ears - proper babies visibly well under 1.

When my son was in preschool I overheard a mum say how she took her 3 year old to get her ears pierced but she was so terrified she ran out of the store with only one ear pierced.

It's heartbreaking. I have a dd and she won't be having her ears pierced until age 10 absolute minimum, I was a teenager when I had mine done!

A chavvy friend of mine (well, was a good friend when we were young) has pierced all her children’s ears as babies and put gold hoops in as soon as she can. It looks awful.

It is child abuse to inflict pain on a child if they cannot consent, for no reason other than vanity.

It's interesting that 30% of the vote is that YABU, but none of them have posted as to why.

Awful! How could someone do that to their child :(

My DD will be choosing if she wants them done when she is old enough to make that decision.

I told my daughter she would get 2 people at once as its been done many times...unfortunately there was only one member of staff available!

The world as gone mad.

I don't care for what reason people get their babies and small children's ears pierced, cultural or not. Inflicting pain on a child when it's not for a valid medical reason is abuse.

There is absolutely no valid reason. I also notice that people only do this to little girls. Babies don't need holes in their ears to look cute!

Dd5 has 2 piercings in each ear but no one held her down, she just sat and she didn't even flinch.

I wouldn't have let her get it done if she had been like that.

I’m actually going to go against the grain here. Mn hates piercing guns but in my experience it’s less painful and heals faster than those done with a needle. I have 3 dds and piercings myself and mn persuaded me to get dd pierced with a needle. Dtds had theirs done with a gun (because our local place with a needle only had a small room and stopped doing dc during covid. Dd1’s took ages to heal whereas dtds healed super quickly. I’ve got 2 sets of ear piercings and had can compare - gun healed faster and hurt a lot less. So long as they are clean it’s fine. Nothing to get hysterical about.

personally, I think dc should be old enough to manage their own personal hygiene before getting piercings so are 4 would be a no from me but it’s not my dc.

My 4 year old asks to have hers done occasionally and I ordered her a bunch of clip on dressing up earrings. Not sure why they need the real thing yet. Adults can change their mind and remove consent, so can children. They should stop when the child stops consenting and changes their mind.

YABU
Mind your own business.

The service is offered. You don't have to avail of it for your children if you don't want to have their ears pierced.

But plenty of people from all sorts of cultures get their children's ears pierced, and everyone survives.

God that's awful and genuinely is child abuse.

My eldest nagged from the time she started school when she saw other girls had them done. I wasn't allowed until I started secondary school so that was the age I said she could (I'd also nagged- my mum hadn't been allowed til she was 18, so 12 to her was a big concession!)

However in the end I relented when my daughter was ten and she had it done at a proper place I'd researched with a needle, but by then she had been campaigning to have the done for six years and I was satisfied that it was her choice. The younger one had hers done at eight as she was campaigning even harder once her sister had hers done... but again, I was satisfied it was her choice and that - most importantly- they consented.

In my opinion, despite having had it done and let my girls have it done as older kids, it should be privy to the same rules and laws as tattooing because whilst it's legal for kids to have it done, it'll be done to babies and small kids like the one in the OPs post who can't consent.

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

How old? Her idea or yours?

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.

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).

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+

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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

Barbaric and should be illegal.

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