OP, there is a teacher shortage. It is a big deal and it affects nearly every school I know. It is February and there are vacancies at my school for full-time teaching positions in core subjects.

Your child's principal chose the best person for the job. That person happens to have tatoos and piercings. If the principal had felt that the next most qualified person was the best person for the job then likely the principal would have hired him or her precisely because of parents like you.

The fact that your child's principal chose the teacher s/he did should tell you something. Pay attention to that and count your blessings that your child's principal found a teacher who can teach.

Finally … as a parent and teacher to a parent … try to be more tolerant. The world could use more tolerant people right now.

Anonymous wrote:If you are offended by tattoos are you equally offended by boob jobs, nose jobs, Botox, etc?

Dunno. I can't tell if someone has had plastic surgery because it's not what I pay attention to. But I sure can see that big tattoo crawling out of your shirt or neck.

I work in a professional setting and I'm sure people have tattoos but they keep it discreet and under cover. Those are the rules. I'd be bothered by teachers with big tattoos that they don't hide because it's not professional and I think professionalism is important. For similar reasons I'd be bothered if a teacher dressed inappropriately in revealing clothing.

If you are offended by tattoos are you equally offended by boob jobs, nose jobs, Botox, etc?

Don’t worry about it. It is a non-issue.

Anonymous wrote:

You simply don't see tatoos in the board room.

Yeah, you also don't see jeans in the board room, but plenty of teachers show up to work in jeans. Unless you are Mark Zuckerberg...then you can show up in a hoodie and jeans, because he's just that good.

Frankly, I wouldn't make a big deal out of it. But if your kid asks, you can use it as a teaching moment to show that people have different appearances but you cannot stereotype based on looks.

First PP - the classroom isn't a boardroom.

OP - how is the teacher as a teacher? Your opinion on her tattoos really doesn't matter.

My kids teacher has a swatch of green hair. Who cares?

Anonymous wrote:Tattooed hipsters.. pseudo rebellion? What are you going on about? Why were you reading studies about this? My god. Do you live in DC in 1900? Where are you from and where do you live? Also tell your kid how hungry, tired, stressed, lonely and sad people say mean things and judge others...but only if their tattooed rebel of K teacher didn’t go over that lesson already.

Cool it kid. A lot of people think tattoos are stupid and reflective of poor decision making habits. And I have read studies showing a correlation between tattoos, particularly the larger and more visible tattoos, with a pattern of rash behaviors.

Things you cannot control such as gender, sexuality, physical disability, race, ethnicity, childhood faiths, nationality, physical appearances, are things you should never judge.

But things you can control, which includes tattoos along with smoking, pot use, fashion, health and lifestyle choices, are fair game for judging. I would judge a teacher with a prominent tattoo on display just as much as I would judge her for smoking.

Tattooed hipsters.. pseudo rebellion? What are you going on about? Why were you reading studies about this? My god. Do you live in DC in 1900? Where are you from and where do you live? Also tell your kid how hungry, tired, stressed, lonely and sad people say mean things and judge others...but only if their tattooed rebel of K teacher didn’t go over that lesson already.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our pediatrician briefly had a receptionist with multiple piercings (nose, eyebrow, lip), many tattoos, and strangely colored hair (this was 10 years ago, long before the current trend, which I think is odd). I thought it an bizarre choice, and was happy when she was no longer there. It is about being in a position of a role model, and sorry not sorry, but tattoos and piercing are not what I want as a role model for my children.
,

agreed

Disagree. I am teaching my kid to be accepting and not judge people for their tats, piercings, or how they look. You should try it.

People who have tattoos do not have the right not to be judged.

It's your decision to get a tattoo and I support your right to get it, but you must also support in exchange my right to make fun of it, to describe it as ugly and comment on the stupidity of it, and to use you as an example to my kids of what not to do because older people with tattoos never look great. The skins turn blotchy and hideous, the tattoos fade, and to be frankly honest, the multiple piercings and septum piercings are silly and distort your appearances. And it causes many people to judge you without knowing you. People will not judge you by your intelligence or your accomplishments but by your silliness and vanity.

Telling me to not to be judgmental is only imposing your views on me, which is ironic. You can't have it both ways.

That's some interesting mental gymnastics there, bud. I personally don't care what you think of tattoos or piercings, and I have no tats and only ear piercings. The only one being a judgmental dick here is you. Read what you wrote. You spent a paragraph going on about it and in pretty nasty terms.

This isn't about "right not to be judged" whatever that means. It means being a decent person. No ones tattoos or piercings affect you. It says nothing about their morality, integrity or intelligence. I'm not "imposing" anything on you other than telling you to be a decent person. You don't have to like what other people do to their bodies - somehow requiring that would be imposing something on you. But, yeah, I judge you for what you've wrote, which is unkind and a little ignorant. You just don't like hearing it and having someone tell you what kind of an ugly person you are. That's something else entirely.

I can judge someone for their silliness while still thinking them a decent person for the most part.

It's silly to pretend otherwise. None of us are Mother Theresa. We live in a world where everyone judges everyone else on so many levels, from race to clothing to education to occupation to cars to where we live. Even the tattooed hipster people are usually among the most judgmental people in their pseudo-rebellion. And when you chose to make a major statement like highly visible tattoos and piercings, you are deliberately inviting judgment. Especially if you are a teacher in a public environment, you're inviting controversy because you are definitely using your lifestyle preferences to dare others not to dislike or judge it and then judging them for judging you. You do not live in a vacuum but in an environment of constantly evolving relationships with multiple people in multiple settings.

To use people's lifestyle preference as a warning is perfectly fair. It's perfectly valid to tell a child that many people are judgmental about tattoos and to weight that against the pros and cons of getting tattoos, it's perfectly valid to warn a child of the long term physical appearances of tattoos, and that they are indicative of a certain type of mindset that is based on short term thinking (which is actually backed up by studies).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our pediatrician briefly had a receptionist with multiple piercings (nose, eyebrow, lip), many tattoos, and strangely colored hair (this was 10 years ago, long before the current trend, which I think is odd). I thought it an bizarre choice, and was happy when she was no longer there. It is about being in a position of a role model, and sorry not sorry, but tattoos and piercing are not what I want as a role model for my children.
,

agreed

Disagree. I am teaching my kid to be accepting and not judge people for their tats, piercings, or how they look. You should try it.

People who have tattoos do not have the right not to be judged.

It's your decision to get a tattoo and I support your right to get it, but you must also support in exchange my right to make fun of it, to describe it as ugly and comment on the stupidity of it, and to use you as an example to my kids of what not to do because older people with tattoos never look great. The skins turn blotchy and hideous, the tattoos fade, and to be frankly honest, the multiple piercings and septum piercings are silly and distort your appearances. And it causes many people to judge you without knowing you. People will not judge you by your intelligence or your accomplishments but by your silliness and vanity.

Telling me to not to be judgmental is only imposing your views on me, which is ironic. You can't have it both ways.

That's some interesting mental gymnastics there, bud. I personally don't care what you think of tattoos or piercings, and I have no tats and only ear piercings. The only one being a judgmental dick here is you. Read what you wrote. You spent a paragraph going on about it and in pretty nasty terms.

This isn't about "right not to be judged" whatever that means. It means being a decent person. No ones tattoos or piercings affect you. It says nothing about their morality, integrity or intelligence. I'm not "imposing" anything on you other than telling you to be a decent person. You don't have to like what other people do to their bodies - somehow requiring that would be imposing something on you. But, yeah, I judge you for what you've wrote, which is unkind and a little ignorant. You just don't like hearing it and having someone tell you what kind of an ugly person you are. That's something else entirely.

Reread OP’s post: The teacher seems to just be reiterating the school’s Halloween policy, which is an unfortunate one. As a teacher and parent, I’m sick of this crap. Our school (where i teach) used to have a fun, Halloween-themed community night and now it’s just called Fall Fest.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our pediatrician briefly had a receptionist with multiple piercings (nose, eyebrow, lip), many tattoos, and strangely colored hair (this was 10 years ago, long before the current trend, which I think is odd). I thought it an bizarre choice, and was happy when she was no longer there. It is about being in a position of a role model, and sorry not sorry, but tattoos and piercing are not what I want as a role model for my children.
,

agreed

Disagree. I am teaching my kid to be accepting and not judge people for their tats, piercings, or how they look. You should try it.

People who have tattoos do not have the right not to be judged.

It's your decision to get a tattoo and I support your right to get it, but you must also support in exchange my right to make fun of it, to describe it as ugly and comment on the stupidity of it, and to use you as an example to my kids of what not to do because older people with tattoos never look great. The skins turn blotchy and hideous, the tattoos fade, and to be frankly honest, the multiple piercings and septum piercings are silly and distort your appearances. And it causes many people to judge you without knowing you. People will not judge you by your intelligence or your accomplishments but by your silliness and vanity.

Telling me to not to be judgmental is only imposing your views on me, which is ironic. You can't have it both ways.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our pediatrician briefly had a receptionist with multiple piercings (nose, eyebrow, lip), many tattoos, and strangely colored hair (this was 10 years ago, long before the current trend, which I think is odd). I thought it an bizarre choice, and was happy when she was no longer there. It is about being in a position of a role model, and sorry not sorry, but tattoos and piercing are not what I want as a role model for my children.
,

agreed

Disagree. I am teaching my kid to be accepting and not judge people for their tats, piercings, or how they look. You should try it.

Anonymous wrote:OP, if it comes up, tell the truth. Tattoos cost a lot on money and involve a lot of needles. I have never gotten one because who wants more needles? The art is permanent, but styles change. Think Kate Gosslyn with Tweetie Bird on her ankle. I personally don’t judge others who get tattooed, but I think it’s a terrible investment.


- Millennial blank slate

LOL - that is exactly the same conversation I had with my 10 year old a few weeks.
"How come Ms Smith has a tatoo?" Because she wanted one and it made her happy.
"How come you don't have any tatoos?" Because they use needles and it would hurt and be super expensive. There are other things I want to spend my money on, and it's not worth the pain to me.
"OK, cool. What's for dinner?"

OP, if it comes up, tell the truth. Tattoos cost a lot on money and involve a lot of needles. I have never gotten one because who wants more needles? The art is permanent, but styles change. Think Kate Gosslyn with Tweetie Bird on her ankle. I personally don’t judge others who get tattooed, but I think it’s a terrible investment.


- Millennial blank slate