Tattoos have become a part of a modern individual, the one who follows fashion. It is easy to see tattoos on celebrities, as well as on average teenagers or even children. Some parents think it is dangerous to let a child being tattooed, others support this idea. Many men – many minds. Moreover, in different states and even cities, there are different laws concerning tattoos. Hence, there is no single mind among researchers on this issue. There have been many articles written about teenagers and their tattoos. For this assignment, I have read two articles concerning teenagers and tattoos. This essay is aimed at comparing and contrasting the article by Andres Martin On teens and tattoos and the article by Mary Pflum Teens and tattoos: would you let you teen get inked?
The articles concern the issue from different points of view. However, they have several similar features. The main similar feature is that both articles concern the same issue. Another similar feature is that authors of both articles try to present evidence, such as interviews and case analysis. In my opinion, it is significant when an author of an article presents evidence to support one’s ideas. When an author presents evidence, such as case analysis, statistical data, graphs, polls or interviews, a reader believes in trueness of an article. Moreover, the peculiarity of the articles is that the authors presented real stories of tattooed children.
However, the articles have many differences. The main difference, as I have already mentioned above, is that authors looks at the problem from different points of view. In the first article, Teens and tattoos: would you let your teen get inked? By Mary Pflum, the author tries to convince parents that a tattoo is rather good, and parents should not panic about that. The author tried to show that a tattoo is teenagers’ way to express themselves, their thoughts, inspirations, ideas. The author presented interview s not only with teens’ parent, but with an owner of tattoo salon, as well. This is a good argument to convince parents that tattoos are not dangerous, and they may allow their child to be tattooed. Moreover, Mary Pflum presented statistical data on how many teens have tattoos. Another strong point of the article is that Mary Pflum gave several pieces of advices to parents. However, the disadvantage of the article is that the author did not provide any information on how dangerous for teens’ health a tattoo may be.
On the other hand, the second article, On teens and tattoos by Andres Martin, is not as optimistic as the previous one. From the very first sight, it may seem that the author is for tattoos on teenagers. The point is that in this article, the author presented evidence to support the idea of allowing a child to be tattooed. On the other hand, the author presented evidence to reject this idea, as well. On the one hand, it is understandable that parents want to keep children from all dangers in the world. However, in some cases parents do not want to talk to children and understand their feelings. Moreover, the author of the article presented stories of children and meaning of their tattoos. There are many stories of tattoos made on special occasions. The peculiarity of the article On teenagers and tattoos, unlike the article Teens and tattoos: would you let your teen get inked?, is that the author of it does not try to convince parents; he lets them choose. However, in the article On teenagers and tattoos the author does not try to convince parents that sometimes teenagers want to have a tattoo on a special reason. Andres Martin said that some children get tattooed because they want to keep some memories. However, he did not try to explain that in some cases the memories were too significant to be left only in mind.
In this essay, I was trying to show that there are many opinions on the issue of tattooed teenagers. There is no single mind on this problem. Some parents allow their children to be tattooed; some prohibit that. However, parents should always remember that conversation is the main means of understanding. Until 18, it is up to parents whether to allow a teenager to be tattooed or not. However, regardless the age, when a teenager (or a child) want to have a tattoo, parents should firstly talk and find out reasons for such a decision. In my opinion, every teenager has a right to decide what to do with the body: piercing, tattooing, scarring and so on. The point is that it is a teen’s body and an individual has the right to choose what should be done with it. On the other hand, there are some health restrictions. In every case, before being tattooed, a teenager should talk to parents and a doctor. Besides, if a tattoo is prohibited, there are many other ways to self express.
Resources:
Martin A., On teenagers and tattoos. 2000. Reclaiming children and youth. 9:3
Pflum M., Teens and tattoos: would you let your teen get inked? 2010
