Tattoo Youth

A number of parents’ groups are currently lobbying Congress to pass legislation requiring minors to obtain parental consent before they can get a tattoo. What do you think?


“I would never let my daughter get a tattoo. I didn’t spend 17 years washing and softening her supple skin only to have her mar it with some ink.”

Geoff Casterbaum • Civil Engineer

“Dude, I was gonna get this totally radical tattoo that said, ’Satan Is Lord, All Hail The Prince Of Darkness,’ just to let everyone know I’m not someone to fuck with. Too bad my mom said no.”

Steven Zylker • Student

“My dad’s such a hypocrite. He says I can’t ever have a tattoo, even though he’s got this cool nine-digit number on his forearm.”

Bobby Ohlmeyer • Student

“A 15-year-old is old enough to buy cigarettes, but not old enough to get a tattoo? That’s not right.”

Christine Potvin • Systems Analyst

“When I was a baby, my mother took me to get my first tattoo. It’s on my forehead, and it reads, ’Mommy’s Little Mistake.’”

Candice Brocklin • Painter

“My mom said I could get a tattoo, as long as it said, ’Homosexuality Is Wrong.’”

Ned Junker • Karate Instructor