Your teen isn't mature if they want a tattoo. No

Funny so many women here love a book about a hedonistic man who uses women for sex and money and never ages while they hit the wall and get old and undesirable.

Seems to be the extreme opposite of every thread in the Relationship Forum part of the site.

What?! No.
I have enough tattoos that most people on this board would call me trashy and I would never let my underage child get a tattoo.
Can you stop them when they turn 18? No.
But I can promise you that no one worth getting a tattoo from would be willing to work on a minor regardless of parental consent.
Ugh. No. No. No.
And please talk to your child about the myriad temporary (and very realistic) looking tattoos available.

No, but only because tattoos are trashy. If it were something I would approve of on an 18yo that my mature 17yo couldn’t do without parental permission, I’d allow it for my mature 17yo.

What’s wrong with waiting until she’s 18?

She’ll appreciate it more once she waits for it. Plus it’s just not the same when you get a tattoo with your mom. It’s supposed to be a right of passage into adulthood. Getting it early sounds good, but it’s going to feel very anticlimactic to be doing something adult while mommy holds your hand. I’m getting “cool mom” energy from you.

Nope. I'd offer it to her for a college graduation gift if she still wants it then. I'd point out that you change SO MUCH between 17-21/22 and she should give her body the gift of time before permanently altering it.

I'd be leery of a tattoo place that will work on minors, even with parental permission. What other rules are they ignoring?

Most reputable artists won't tattoo children even WITH parental permission.

I'd have her start picking out artists, get it planned out, but get it on/after her 18th birthday.

Yes

Let her wait until 18, if she can pay for it with money she’s earned on her own.

I got a tattoo at 21 that I thought was amazing and defined my life, etc etc. it’s so stupid. If it weren’t hidden and I didn’t want to go through the pain, I’d get it removed.

My God. No. A developmental characteristic of teens is a mistaken belief they will always feel as they do now. For example that they will always like a certain tattoo… or even book.

Anonymous wrote:She'll be 18 soon enough

Along those lines she can also move out and work full time like an 18 year old.. which I’m sure that you would not do. So tell her to hold her horses, time will gallop by soon enough. Give her chance to think it over.

I would say hard No! Yes, it is her body and all that, but I know way too many people who regret their tattoos. I went through a phase where I really wanted one in college but I settled for a belly button ring instead. Thank goodness because I outgrew both my tattoo and belly button ring phase and I was able to just remove the belly button ring when I got tired of it the following year! My cousin got a tattoo on her lower back in college and she hates it now. I suppose she could just get it lasered off but what a pain.

She’s 17? When is her 18th birthday? Most likely she can wait.

No. I disapprove of tattoos. If they want to be stupid and scar their bodies, they can do it with their own money when they're adults.