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Getting tattoos are, in itself, a way people express their artistic freedom or pay tribute to those that have inspired them or to be remembered. Many other reasons may follow, but for the most part a person has a story associated with their tattoos.

With that being said, I have a total of three. My first tattoo I obtained at the age of 17, close to the end of high school and, in looking back, I realize that although I was a less than a year away from legally becoming an adult, I was still in fact a child. Today, children as young as thirteen are getting tattoos and by admitting that I felt seventeen was too young of an age, any age younger is a regret waiting to dreaded by the age of eighteen.

Currently, I work at a middle school. Of my three tattoos, my most recent tattoo is brightly displayed on my forearm which can not be seen if I kept my arm down my side and you are standing a certain distance away from me. Teachers have looked at me funny, trying to talk to me without acknowledging the ink on my arm and teachers have admired it all at the same time. Then, there are the ones whose opinions I really care about: my students. Before I continue, I do not encourage my students to get tattoos. I do encourage discussion and I do inform students that there is a time and place for all things to occur. I had a former student look at me and tell me, "that's disgusting" and I have students who tell me how cool and awesome it looks. Regardless of the reasons behind their opinions, I encourage them to speak up.

Students have addressed me about how, at the age of twelve, they wanted a tattoo. They are curious and I get questions about whether it hurt, how long did it take, why would I do that, and so forth. Their curiousity is what still makes them a child, and the curiousity of the matter at hand makes them a growing youth. I do address such topics in honesty, yet reminding them of how I was able to make a decision as a responsible adult and aware of consequences.

Informing the students of the consequences gives them a little more time to think about such choices. I informed them of the healing process, how some people have had infections with pus oozing out of their skin, or how (like myself) discovered I was allergic to a type of blue ink and didn't know it until I was tattooed. I have informed my students of how they would not be able to donate blood to a sick relative during a certain time or how some people lived with the expensive mistake and spent just as much to get it removed. If I brought up costs, I'd immediately relate that to how they could've easily bought tickets to some concert or buy the best fashion wardrobe with the money they could've spent on a tattoo and getting it removed.

I address students who do not like my tattoo by asking them if they respect me any less. While I have not had a student who said they do, I have had a student who believes that it is wrong and inappropriate. I sympathized with her opinion and asked if she would be okay to occasionally cover my tattoo, and she obliged. Soon after, our conversations remained the same and my tattoo was just a marking on my sleeve.

Children have a curiousity and as adults we address it as mature adults. As they get older their curiousity does not diminish, and with that curiousity there needs to be an adult who can (hopefully) move them in the direction of knowing right from wrong, good choices from bad ones.

Learn more about this author, M. Velasco.
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