I’m sure that there are hundreds of households across the world where, at this very moment, parents and their teenagers are debating whether a tattoo or body piercing will be permitted.   Nothing new there… body art is now an element of fashion, and parents and teens have been fighting over fashion for pretty much as long as there have been parents with teenagers.

A bit scary, though – especially for body art professionals out there – are the laws that our friends in the State Legislatures have passed to punish service providers who tattoo or pierce underage customers without parental permission.  In some states, tattooing is illegal for minors whether or not the parents consent.  That’s not all…in some states these crimes are punishable by up to a YEAR in jail and hefty fines.  Some states make violations misdemeanors, but in others, such as Arizona, you are looking at a FELONY.

 Now, I must confess that I passed on having children, so I am not qualified to comment parent-wise, but surely a FELONY conviction is a bit harsh.  How about a refund instead?  Sure seems like a lot of time wasted by lawmakers who could be spending their time and energy (and our money) on something more important. 

For those of you piercing/tattoo professionals in the USA, here’s a great link with detail by state, including laws related to tattoos:  http://www.ncsl.org/programs/health/minorbodyart.htm.