How To Convince Traditional Parents For A Tattoo At 17

How can I convince my parents to let me get a tattoo at 16 (legal with consent from parent/guardian)?

That IS a lifetime commitment, getting a tattoo. I guess your parents have gone on and on about that fact. Look, 2 years and you’re 18. Your arm/leg/back/chest/ or butt will still be there. Two years is not a long time! Just think how long you’re going to have THAT TATOO! I’m sitting here on a patio in Florida looking at my husband. We’re both in our early sixties. Actually I’m looking at the ragged scar on his right shoulder. It’s a scar from a do it yourself. tattoo remover job involving heat and a knife.He did that at twenty…..the tattoo he had done was when he was 17. It had been something really cool and http://meaningful….it was the “male symbol”. Yeah. I know. But if by some chance your parents allow you to get a tattoo, please see below:NEVER EVER EVER EVER puts his or her name, initials or special date of significant other.NEVER EVER EVER EVER get an obscene picture or wordNEVER EVER EVER EVER tatoo your face, neck, fingers, or hand.

How do I convince my parents to let me have a tattoo that I'm going to pay with my own hard earned money?

Look, it's not likely to happen, but whatever you do, don't find an end-way around it and get one. I don't disagree with you inking yourself up from head-to-toe, but what I believe everyone should do before doing so is to look up the areas of the body that have prevented people from being successful in their professional careers. Then, take that information and look up those that regret what they did and those that have no regrets. Then, align that with what you're wanting to do.In the end, you can accept the delay as a way to perfect whatever design you have and want permanently on your body.And now an anecdote: My wife got a tatt on her lower back, now affectionately referred to as a “Tramp Stamp”. She's a mother of three that is active in the community and says many times a month how much she regrets getting hers, which she got with no second thought at the age of 18. People change and so do their tastes. I didn't read your age, but even if you're 17, you'll find you're quite a bit different when you're 19. And at the end of the day, you won't know what you truly want or prefer until you're in your early-to-mid’20’s. By making this decision now, you deprive yourself of the same later on when you have an idea of the bigger picture of life. Now, you're going to do what you're going to do, but inking yourself won't make you feel any different than you felt before; but you will one day wish you had done some differently, be it a different design or not getting one at all. But think about it…By making this decision now, you remove the option from the table later on when you do (and you will) decide that you should have done this differently. Your parents see this from a big world view, while you can only see what you know in your short time since you've become “self-aware”. Whatever you decide, I hope you get what you want.

How did you tell your parents about your tattoo(s)?

About 6 months after I got my tattoos, we had our annual family trip to the lake house. My tattoos are playboy bunnies on my arms, so unfortunately they are pretty obvious either swimming or wearing a tank top.I was really starting to sweat about 3 weeks before the trip, as the entire family is there, and nobody has tattoos.So I came up with this idea to get temporary tattoos in the same exact shape and form of my real tattoos. Since my bunnies were tattoos of the playboy air freshener, I had the outline, and I found an online site that makes the temporary tattoos from any image you provide. I ordered about a dozen ‘right facing’ and a dozen ‘left facing’ bunnies with different colors.That morning before the ride up my girlfriend helped apply the temp tattoos to my arms, and surprisingly they fit almost perfectly. You could tell they were temp b/c they had the slight bumpy and bright feel to them.In order to also blend, my girlfriend was going to put some on her ankles. But since they were my size, they were way to big for her ankles, so she put them on her hips, one on each side. Hers were only visible in a bathing suit.We get there just after lunch, and we just go around the back where everybody was. During all the greetings, we got the OMG are they real ? questions, but we assured everybody they were temp and offered the extras if they wanted one. My cousin took one and so did my aunt.My Mom came back from the store, and she also flipped out with the playboy themed party that had suddenly developed, and asked everybody to take them off. She was insistent and actually got the alcohol, saying she didn’t want to ruin the pictures.Despite my protests, the bunnies were coming off, and at this point I was resigned to the dismay of my mom. I wiped my temp bunny off and the real bunny was now showing on both my arms.My mom came over and told me to take them off. I had to admit that although I would love to take them off, they are really tattooed. She stared at me, then the bunnies, then me with this look of abject disgust. She knew I was telling the truth. She then spun around and went inside.So needless to say the rest of that week was very rough for me and my mom, and eventually we reconciled our differences, as it is was it is.

How do I persuade my parents to let me get a tattoo?

Okay. Read what I did for a living. Bail bondsman right? I hope and pray that you never do ANYTHING to go to jail. However, lets speak real life. Once a guy failed to show for court and I had to capture and rearrest him. The problem was he had a twin brother! Guess how I arrested the correct person? TATTOO.Let’s say on a whim you may be smart and want to go into the military as an officer or maybe become doctor. Well, this satanic nazi death head skeleton with a knife through a skull is plastered on your forearm? No assignment for officer training/overseas assignment for you. You have permanently marked your body as a US Citizen because the tattoo is in English!One final example. A friend of mine was of proud Irish heritage and had shamrocks tattooed on both fists and neck right? Well, in jail in the South, shamrocks are a “White Power or Aryan Nation” sign. Every black guy in that prison wanted to kick his ass! He was just proud to be Irish.My entire point being is to think HARD before getting ANY permanent mark on your body. I understand that currently tattoos are a way to express your adulthood and individuality. If a tattoo means that much to you to fit in then stand like a MAN and give your parents your reasons. Offer to get a part time job or come up with your own money for it okay? All I am saying is THINK first about how you will be viewed by others when you go for a job or school. Feel free to print and share this email with you mom or dad. I am not against tattoos, just saying be VERY careful.Hope that helps brother/sister!ADR

How do I convince my parents to let me get my cartilage pierced?

There is a question very similar in concept to this one that I answered a few days ago. I feel that it would pertain to this situation as well.Kendra Vogel's answer to My daughter wants a triple earlobe piercing, but I think that's trashy. How do I convince her?I'm not sure if the questions should be merged because it is a different question. Look through the other answers on the linked question; some of them bring up good points about why “trashy” isn't a valid argument to not get piercings.I would suggest pointing out how cartilage piercings are very low risk piercings; they may require extra care but don't need surgery to remove and typically don't cause extensive scarring (like many other piercings out there). Also, you can remove it if you need/want to. There will be a little dot left over from healing, but oftentimes you don't even notice it after it closes up. But remember that after a piercing heals there's scar tissue left in the place. Repiercing it hurts and can take longer to heal than the original one.If you come to a last resort, promise it's the last one you're going to beg them for. I did this for my 3rd lobe piercing on my left ear (I had 3 lobe and 1 cartilage on my right ear and 2 lobe on my left. I wanted to even it out). She made me promise that I was done with my ears being pierced, which I am. She probably thought it looked trashy but didn't say that to me. Getting a harmless piercing wasn't a huge deal, so she decided to compromise and therefore get me off her back about it.You could also make a list of “rules” like I mentioned. That way they know that you will do your best to take good care of it. And get a stud piercing, not a hoop. Plain, silver stud piercings are much “classier” looking to most people, including your parents. Make them see the good, and explain how the bad could be good for them (i.e. If it gets seriously infected you will take it out).Good luck!