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Teenagers

Parenting teenagers has its ups and downs. Get advice from Mumsnetters here.

Original poster

Would you let your 16 year old son have a tattoo?

28 replies

Marne · 28/03/2009 13:45

DSS rang this morning to ask if he could borrow some money to get a tattoo , i am really shocked that he expected dh to be fine about this. His mum seems to have given it the go ahead and his eldest brother was going to take him today to get it done.

Dh is really upset about it as dss seems to have given up on his dream to become a police officer and now wants to do nothing and live like a chav.

I really can't say anything as when i was 14 i stupidly got a tattoo.

Would you let this happen?

Is there anything we can do?

OP posts:
MadamDeathstare · 28/03/2009 13:49

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belgo · 28/03/2009 13:49

No. I would be shocked.

Can you not use your own experience of regretting getting a tattoo to illustrate what a bad idea it is?

ANd is it legal? I thought the age limit was 18.

differentID · 28/03/2009 13:50

I thought you had to be 18 to get a tattoo done in a licensed studio?

OldLadyKnowsNothing · 28/03/2009 13:51

I'm pretty sure it's illegal under 18 too. Warn the tattooist?

BCNS · 28/03/2009 13:51

well as far as i know he has to be 18 to get one done ( not that it stops them though).

If it were me, I'd say save the money up and get one done when your 18 if you still want one. And advise to have one done somewhere than can easily be hidden beneath a shirt for work purposes later on in life.

OldLadyKnowsNothing · 28/03/2009 13:52

(And no, I wouldn't allow it, I'd go sodding ballistic. I have nothing against tats and have many, many friends of both sexes with them, but not at 16.)

TheHedgeWitch · 28/03/2009 13:52

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HecatesTwopenceworth · 28/03/2009 13:53

No I would not let my 16 yr old get one.

BCNS · 28/03/2009 13:53

oh and.. he might want to think very carefully about what he has done.. and it's a life time thing! what looks good at 16 can easily be awful when he's 30/40 etc.

purepurple · 28/03/2009 13:54

in my experience the more you tell a 16 year old NOT to do something, the more they want to doit

so, tell him, you will lend him the money only if he has a huge tattoo over the entire lenght of his body

go with him to the tattoo parlour and loudly say "It's a good job we found a tattooist to do it illegally, with you still being only 16"

the tattooist will open you with opoen arms

choose a tattoo that will take weeks of work and lots of pain
job done

belgo · 28/03/2009 13:54

purepurple

MadamDeathstare · 28/03/2009 13:55

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pagwatch · 28/03/2009 13:55

No. No way.

MadamDeathstare · 28/03/2009 13:56

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MadamDeathstare · 28/03/2009 13:57

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Original poster
Marne · 28/03/2009 13:59

You have to be 18 but i'm sure his mother would give consent and he looks older than 16 so may not get asked for ID.

He's not working at the moment as he is doing his GCSE's, i said to dh 'maybe say to him if he gets his head down and does well in his GCSE's then we would help pay for one'. Dh is against him getting it done but if there is nothing we can do the least we can do is make sure he goes to a clean place to get it done.

OP posts:
MadamDeathstare · 28/03/2009 14:04

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TheProfiteroleThief · 28/03/2009 14:05

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PinkTulips · 28/03/2009 14:07

don't know about england but over here as long as there's written consent froma parent or gaurdian it's ok for under 18's to have them done.

not that i had consent for the 2 i had done at 16

and yes i would let any of mine have one... i still adore my tattoos, wouldn't change them for the world. no-one can see them unless i want them to so they don't affect my appearance in general (although the piercings probably do a wee bit )

as long as it's not anything horrible or in a place that can't be hidden i think you'd be better off just letting him go for it, i speak from experiance when i say a parent disapproving doesn't make the slightest bit of differance, the teen will still get it done.

although, let him pay for it himself, cheeky sod asking for money!

Original poster
Marne · 28/03/2009 14:16

Dh did say 'your old enough to pay for it yourself' .

Dh and i both have tattoo's, i have 6 but all in places i can hide, i only regret one that a had done at 15 and i have since had it covered up by another. It would seem wrong for us to say no to him and i know he would still get it done.

We have a local tattoo parlor which is clean and he does good tattoo's, i am not sure if that's the one he plans on going to.

I hope he has nothing to big and stupid.

OP posts:
ZZZen · 28/03/2009 14:19

no I wouldn't but then they generally have their a bit of their own money at that age so would be hard to prevent really

belgo · 28/03/2009 14:39

Why would it seem wrong for you to say no? What's acceptable for an adult isn't necessarily acceptable for a 16 year old. That's why there is a law saying 18 years.

There's no way that I would agree to something illegal for my 16 year old, and I would make sure he knew that.

ZZZen · 28/03/2009 14:40

suppose the problem is the mother has already agreed to it

Original poster
Marne · 28/03/2009 15:42

It would feel wrong to say no because he knows that i got my first tattoo when i was 14.

OP posts:
cory · 28/03/2009 17:32

If you don't approve of it, you don't have to pay for it. Simple as. By the time dd is 16, I will probably have given up trying to stop her from all sorts of things. But I'm not going to be paying for something I don't want to give her. My money is mine!