What do you think the age of consent should be?

[Perspectivez]

I personally got my first tattoos at 16. I don't regret them nearly 10 years later, but with that being said, I still think the legal age should be 18. I could probably even make an argument for 21.

Thoughts?

[Graeme]

Given the tattoos that I see 21 year olds getting, I'm going to say 35.

[HettyKet]

Given the tattoos that I see 21 year olds getting, I'm going to say 35.

Just had my first right on your age limit <polishes halo>

But, in seriousness, I'm not sure. Freedom of expression and all that. Youthful mistakes are important lessons, well often anyway.

Where I am the legal age is 14. Yes, 14. Not sure any reputable place would actually do it, but still.

Can't help wondering if, like with drinking, the higher the age limit the more bad and fucked up stuff happens.

How's about an unavoidable 6 month cooling off period under x age? Goodness knows:rolleyes:

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Fuck! NO! it's 12 here.

12 - 16 tattoos and piercings allowed with a parent or legal guardian present.

12 - 16 no tattoos on neck, hands, face, wrists. No genital piercings. No nipple piercings for girls.

Over 16, all allowed.

Here but in Dutch

[ironchef]

I work for city government so I might come off sounding like a narc, but here's some food for thought:

In NYC, you have to be 18 years or older to purchase tobacco products or smoking paraphernalia including hookah bongs, shisha and e-cigs. In NYS you have to be 21 or older to purchase alcohol. There's conversations in NYC to push the tobacco stuff up to 21 to match up with the alcohol threshold.

Do I think tattoos fall within the age of consent thresholds as tobacco or alcohol...probably not. Should it be? Not sure.

@Graeme 's comment is a very valid point that a lot of the younger generation just don't really know and most times get horrid work in some chop shop. Does that mean we should put down limitations. Maybe for the greater good but generally I hate placing a ban on anything. Jesus I sound like a politician...

[GrayCatLove]

If you're old enough to die for your country, you're old enough for a tattoo. Not much discussion there.

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If you're old enough to die for your country, you're old enough for a tattoo. Not much discussion there.

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If you're old enough to die for your country, you're old enough for a tattoo. Not much discussion there.

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If you're old enough to die for your country, you're old enough for a tattoo. Not much discussion there.

[9Years]

@Graeme Ha! I totally agree....

I think 18 is fine. I don't see the need or benefit to restricting things further. Unless it's something totally insane like a vagina on your face, a tattoo that you come to regard as "bad" later on down the line isn't really that big of a deal in the grand scheme of things.

On a personal level, I'm reeeallly glad I only got a few smallish tattoos when I was younger (Skull N Bones with my roommates when I was 19, kinda crappy GG Bridge when I moved to SF etc). They've got character, I can file them under "learning experiences" and they still make me smile. But, thinking today about the things I would've got tattooed if I wasn't a broke-ass kid at the time makes me throw up in my mouth a bit...I simply had no respect for, or understanding of, tattoos.

No policy will ever account for bad-taste. Regardless of age.

[semele]

I definitely tried to get tattooed when I was fourteen--I was living in the middle of nowhere Maine that summer working in a barn, and I rode my horse to this biker bar where I'd heard someone tattooed. The bikers called my parents. Got the same tattoo four years later and let's just say the four extra years of thinkin about it didn't help much. I kinda wish I had gotten it then, just to make the story that much better.

There isn't a legal age in Ohio and I'm actually okay with it--I don't know many tattooers around here that would agree to tattoo a minor anyway, and I'm generally cool with letting people exercise their goddamn common sense without unnecessary legal meddling.

[spookysproul]

If I'd gotten almost ANY of what I'd wanted SO bad when I was 14, I would be so sad about it now. However, my tattoos that I regret all came after I was 21, so I'm not sure an age limit would do much good. Unless we go with the 35 age limit suggested above.

[HaydenRose]

I think the higher you raise the age, then more people under-age will find ways of getting it anyway and with higher risk. People are getting tattooed by their "friends" for cheap or free already, if the age restriction on tattoos is higher than 18 then kids will still seek out tattoos but without the option of clean, professional shop.

I think alcohol is a prime example. Teenagers in high school and college are like pre-adults and want to drink and have a good time. If it's not legal, they will still get it somewhere and usually over-do it without proper education aside from "don't do it".

[semele]

@spookysproul Ha, if I got everything I wanted at fourteen tattooed, I'd probably have full sleeves of Tool lyrics and a back piece that's just Kurt Cobain's face.

[JAllen]

There isn't a legal age in Ohio and I'm actually okay with it

The legal age in ohio is 18. Its true however that there isn't an age specified in regards to minors who's parents want to consent for them.

[GrayCatLove]

The only reason I'd allow my minor child to get tattooed would be to cover a huge bodily scar like mine. You lose a breast or get cut hipbone to hipbone or get an amputation and don't want to be considered a freak, I get it.

[SStu]

I don't think age should be the criteria. I think any prospective tattooee should have to pass a common sense and maturity test 1st.

Same goes for having babies or "owning" pets.

Naturally, some people would be plain-skinned, childless and lonely forever.

[GrayCatLove]

I don't think age should be the criteria. I think any prospective tattooee should have to pass a common sense and maturity test 1st.

Same goes for having babies or "owning" pets.

Naturally, some people would be plain-skinned, childless and lonely forever.

It's a good idea, and should be the same for driving a car, but rather hard to enforce. And one of the bad parts about freedom, everyone gets it.

[JBHoren]

I don't think there should be an age limit. Some are born with birthmarks that inconvenience them because of size, shape, location, color, or what-have-you; others become scarred, burned, or otherwise marked. What bothers me is the "protection racket" mentality -- sure, tattoos are long-lasting (Louie Lombi used to say his work was guaranteed for "Life plus six" [months]), but tats don't harm us like long-term tobacco, alcohol, or other drug use.

What I do think is that a tattoo artist ought to be a good judge of whom to tattoo, and whom to not. For example, would you work on someone who was drunk, or really drugged? (Louie Lombi made a point of not tattooing either, and used to say they'd "Either throw-up on you, or fall asleep on you" -- who needs that?) As someone else used to say, "Think before you ink!"

I also think that whatever the minimum age might be, if getting a tattoo requires parental consent the parent should not be allowed to be present while the work is being done -- who needs a "helicopter" parent hovering over their shoulder, annoying everyone involved, interrupting the process, and negatively affecting the outcome? Don't forget: the kid's gonna carry that tat for the rest of his/her life!

If a "teen" has the dough, is doughty enough to handle it, and it "feels right" to the artist, then WTF.

Just my 2-cents. YMMV.

PS: Being a heavily-inked guy, my kids (daughters) asked questions from an early age; I answered truthfully, and always tried to dissuade them from getting inked, themselves. Wouldn't ya know it, but the day my older one turned 18, she says to me, "Daddy, I wanna get a tattoo." What was I gonna say... no? So, I had to first find a shop, then check-out the artists and their work... was not easy or enjoyable, this being in Tel-Aviv, Israel. :cool: She ended-up getting the "White Rock" ginger-ale fairy on her right shoulder...

[Gregor]

Tattooing is completely unregulated in Ireland. There's no legal minimum age .

[SlickSquid]

Given the tattoos that I see 21 year olds getting, I'm going to say 35.

Lol...I hear you on that!!

I have no issue with 17...you can drive, join the military, and in case already graduated high school and had lost my virginity by then!! ;)

[slayer9019]

I work for city government so I might come off sounding like a narc, but here's some food for thought:

In NYC, you have to be 18 years or older to purchase tobacco products or smoking paraphernalia including hookah bongs, shisha and e-cigs. In NYS you have to be 21 or older to purchase alcohol. There's conversations in NYC to push the tobacco stuff up to 21 to match up with the alcohol threshold.

Do I think tattoos fall within the age of consent thresholds as tobacco or alcohol...probably not. Should it be? Not sure.

@Graeme 's comment is a very valid point that a lot of the younger generation just don't really know and most times get horrid work in some chop shop. Does that mean we should put down limitations. Maybe for the greater good but generally I hate placing a ban on anything. Jesus I sound like a politician...

From personal experience I can say when I was under 18, there was 1000 ways to get what I wanted. Raising the age for alcohol, tobacco, tattoos, etc does not much to stop anyone from enjoying them, regardless of age. I was smoking by 14, drinking the same year, (thankfully no tattoos until I was older). Looking back the only thing those regulations did was make it a pain in the ass, but not so much that it even slowed me down.

If you look at getting tattooed, as with drinking underage, kids will still do it, but instead of in public, they making poor decisions surround by equally stupid peers, instead of adults. In NJ where I grew up, there was no age of consent, as long as your parents signed the slip. Even with those "looser" laws, not many kids got tattooed. Shops either talked them out of it, talked them into a much better idea or the parents said no.

Also that 21 years old for tobacco in NYC is just a publicity stunt. I've witnessed booze and cigarettes being sold to very obviously under 18 year olds for years now. Bodegas and the such don't ever check. The once instance that cracked me up was a kid that was barely tall enough to reach across the counter tried to buy a flask of booze. The lady almost gave it to him then was like "uh, do you have ID". Yea a 10 year old has ID haha.