Tattoos and Teenagers

Tattoos & Teenagers

I have always found tattoos to be an incredibly meaningful and beautiful art form; I love seeing people just covered in them. I personally could never do it but I find it so interesting and for the most part, each tattoo has a significant story behind it. There has always and will always be opinions about tattoos because of cultural beliefs, personal preference, history, identity and a number of other reasons. Many people have negative feelings about tattoos because of the history involved with marking and branding.

“Studies about teenagers link tattoos with eating disorders, unsafe sexual activity, violence, and suicide, as well as low self-esteem and school failure (Blair, 40).” For many, this statement may to true but I strongly believe that it’s because of the reputation, history, and education people have and make about tattoos. I do agree that research should be done before getting a tattoo because you are “stuck with it for life” but those regretful or unwanted tattoos, whether good or bad tell a story.

I started to think about why I have tattoos while reading this article, I don’t know if I have tattoos for any specific reason, maybe just for art and self-expression. I have two tattoos (and hope to get a few more), The one is an Italian saying that reminds me of my grandmother. The other is a simple heart, no bigger than a quarter on my rib; my best girlfriends have talked about getting the same tattoo for as long as I can remember. The heart represents our strong bond; we have been together through everything ever since pre-school. One day, about a year ago, we spontaneously did it.