Shame on the community leaders in Webster, Mass who passed a law allowing children as young as 14-years old the opportunity to get tattooed. And get this – their reasoning is to ensure public health?!
The Webster Board of Health passed a new regulation allowing 14-year-olds to 17-year-olds to get tattoos at licensed shops if their parents approve and come with them. Town officials said they are trying to keep the younger teenagers away from unlicensed tattoo artists who work out of their homes, in an effort to prevent the spread of disease.
“If they want a tattoo they’re going to get a tattoo, therefore we want to make sure they get a tattoo from a reputable source,” said Cathleen Liberty, a Webster health agent.
WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE?
As one commenter noted, “So, using this logic, if kids want to buy prescription drugs, lets sell them to them from a drug store instead of letting them buy them off the street.”
A lot of parents in Webster are angry about the decision in addition to some of the licensed tattoo artists in the town. The artists say 14-years-old is just too young for a tattoo and we couldn’t agree more.
Shame on the Webster Board of Health for doing a disservice to the industry and risking the health of young children even more with their backwards law.
hopegallery.wordpress.com 
I think it’s a great idea!
Regulate things instead of making them illegal.. everytime this option has been chosen for any issue it has worked out better. I dont understand the hate.. obv youngsters getting tattooed isnt good, but trying to stop someone from doing something has not/will not EVER work.
trying to stop someone from doing something by making it illegal*
There’s a reason age restrictions are put on things like this. I don’t care how mature you think you are, 14 is not old enough to make a decision that will stick with you forever. And this isn’t going to stop unlicensed tattoo artists from getting business. What if a 14 year old wants a tattoo but their parents won’t let them? They’re going to go behind their back and go to someone who will do it without consent. This won’t fix anything. All this is going to do is leave a bunch of teenagers with tattoos they’re going to regret forever.
yea a agree 14 year olds should never be tattooed even if they were mature enough there bodys are still developing and growing so most that get tattooed will end up with them distorted because they made a silly decision approved by a retarded bunch of community leaders
That’s a good point, Veronica.
Although, is the whole discussion not a bit pointless. Most (if not all) tattoo artists I’ve been to and have spoken with have operated a policy whereby they reserve the right to refuse any request for work to be done. You have to say that the majority of artists would not tattoo a 14 year old just because their parents said it was ok. Between common sense and a code of ethics, I can’t see a huge spike in numbers of tattooed teenagers resulting from this action.
To be honest, if kids are stupid enough to go to an unlicensed artist then they deserve the piece of crap tattoo they’re gonna get out of it.
Letting the kids do this legally in order to stop disease caused by improper needles is a great idea
I think this is a good idea and people who are like its a bad idea it’s the kids distion and u cn get them removed or get it covered kids these days are smarter and more miture then adults think
I think this has its pros and cons. the pros is stopping kids going to an unlicensed artice and stopping unlicensed artices to tattoo young kids.
The pros is that it is a less chance of getting a diseas.
But 14 year old kids getting tattoos that young is dumb cause they are gonna regret it down the road. But if they go to someone that is unlicense and it comes out crappy then they have to deal with that for the rest of there life. Just wait till your 18 can sign your name to get one from a licensed artice and knows what they are doing depending on where you go to get it done.