Should Teenagers Get Tattoos In America?

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Adolescence is an interesting time for teenagers. This is when teenagers move out of childhood and into adulthood. During adolescence teenagers want to separate themselves from their parents to pronounce their own true identity, which might involve listening to different music, wearing clothes that express their individuality, or trying new hairstyles. It is also a time when teenagers want to express themselves with “body art” or in other words tattoos. The more popular and mainstream tattoos are, the more teenagers want to have them. However, teenagers do not realize the hidden dangers and consequences of putting ink into their skin permanently. That being the case, adolescents should not be allowed to get tattoos in America because they are not mentally mature enough to understand the outcomes, such as possible health risks, …show more content…
Most teenagers will say their tattoos express who they are, but they basically say this for everything which includes their clothes, hairstyles, and lifestyles. They do not need to put permanent ink in their bodies to show who they are. Cara a teenager who has tattoos herself says “my tattoos have meanings, one is my camp name and my other tattoo says ‘dad’ which is dedicated to my dad and how much he has done for me. I would never regret either of them, and they’re both an extension of who I am” (Teens with Tattoos: Rebelling or Expressing).What adolescents do not understand is that they just are not mature enough to make these lifelong decisions at their age. According to Erik Erickson a child psychoanalyst of the 1960’s, introduced the best known theories of personality development and is also one of the oldest in today’s time. Erickson came up with the stage theory of identity, which consist of eight stages of identity crises that