Tattooing Idiots
A couple days ago, I went and got the tattoo along my spine touched up and the artist and I got to talking about a couple recent news stories about tattooing.
The first was about a guy in California that held down his 7yr old son while another gang member tattooed a gang sign on the kid’s hip. From my understanding, the guy could have faced a life sentence if the judge determined the tattoo was a permanent and painful disfigurement. Instead he faces up to seven year in prison for cruel and inhumane treatment of a child. The tattoo is now being removed.
Then there is the couple in Georgia that were arrested for using a homemade tattoo gun which used a guitar string instead of a needle to tattoo little crosses on the hands of six of their seven children. They were charged with cruelty to children, reckless conduct, and tattooing.
My tattoo artist also mentioned hearing about a guy who killed his kid by tattooing a body sleeve on the kid and his system went into shock. But I haven’t been able to find anything on that so it may just be gossip/rumor.
I have read the arguement that it isn’t different than piercing your kids ears, but I tend to disagree a little. For a lot of people, if you remove a piercing, the hole closes up. Tattoos don’t just wash away. You can have them removed, but I heard that is more painful than getting the tattoo in the first place.
My two biggest problems with these parents are 1) the kids aren’t old enough to decide if they want something permanent like that on their bodies and 2) the tattoos were not done professionally. A homemade tattoo gun using a guitar string is not hygienic and adds unneeded health risks. And in the case of the 7yr old, if the tattoo wasn’t removed, he would have had an association with a gang permanently inked into his skin which could cause issues with his life. But that is why I think those parents are tattooing idiots.
