The American Academy of Pediatrics recently released its first set of guidelines for teenagers hoping to get a tattoo or piercing but some Utah artists in the business think those guidelines are too lenient.
“I personally don’t think teenagers should be getting tattoos because teenagers are more impulsive, so I don’t think they should just be about to go and randomly get a tattoo.” said Cami Saint, a Utah tattoo artist.
In Utah it is illegal for anyone under the age of 18 to get a tattoo, but there is no age limit on who can have a piercing. Children and minors don’t even need to give their consent before getting a piercing.
Piercer Mowefa Eastmond thinks this law needs to change.
“There are piercers out there that will do infants ears,” Eastmond said. “I personally won’t because I think it should be their choice.”
In 2016 a study conducted by Pew Research Center found that 23 percent of college freshmen already had a tattoo and 51 percent had a body piercing.
