The stupidity of people will never cease to amaze us. In Acworth, GA a woman took her 10-year old son to a tattoo parlor to get a tattoo – and he was in fact tattooed.
Chuntera Napier said her son, Gaquan Napier, wanted to honor his older brother who died after being hit by a car, and she had no idea it was illegal for him to get a tattoo. Napier said her family is still grieving the death of her 12-year-old son, Malik, who was hit and killed by a teenaged driver in Macon two years ago. She has her own tattoos in Malik’s honor.
“It made me feel good to know that he wanted his brother on him,” Napier said, “My son came to me and said, ‘Mom, I want to get a tattoo with Malik on it, rest in peace. What do I say to a child who wants to remember his brother?” HOW ABOUT NO?!?!
“I always thought that if a parent gave consent, then it was fine,” Napier said.
Napier was arrested Tuesday and charged with misdemeanor cruelty and being a party to a crime. But our question still remains – where is the dirtbag tattooer that tattooed the 10-year old? That poor boy is now scarred for life with this scratchers mess and we hope he is arrested as well.
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What an ignorant woman. A smart parent would have at least checked the local laws first. But it looks like the kid made it out okay, and the tattoo isn’t offensive. It’s messed up, but child tattoos are still less shocking an idea to me than circumcision of infants, which is perfectly legal in every state.
Shouldnt have to check the law, the artist should have denied the request. This is bullshit. Yes it is stupid to let a 10 year old get a tattoo but the fault lies with the artists, he is the one who should be implementing the law in this case.
Perfectly legal in my area as long as the child has parental consent.
Doesn’t make it right.
and who is the “right” police? you? because you disagree with it, then it’s wrong for everyone?
Georgia’s state tattoo laws are easy to remember:
1. It is illegal to tattoo ANYONE under the age of 18.
2. Follow regulations at county health dept.
Age of consent is the ONLY law on the state books about tattooing.
Im a tattooist in CT with parental concencent a 16 year old can get tattooed. In most states the customer MUST be 18 in some 21 and in a few its still illegal. In no state can a 10 year old revive one. The mother SHOULD be arrested it is her job to know her son is not old enough to make a permant choice. Also the tattooist SHOULD be arested but unfortunately the tattoo looks like an amuture did it so it wasent done in a shop( and if it was that person should not be working in a shop judging the.artwork) and so probably will never be found. The mother should br held even more accountable for not having the tattoo done in a reputable shop in a sterile environment more than likely cause a shop turned her away cause HER SON IS TO YOUNG. Instead she paid some dude do do it in his basment or something. 00 bucks says she new he couldn’t get one and let him anyway. THIS WOMAN SHOULD GO TO JAIL AND LOSE HER KIDS.
looks like a ghetto coloring book, doesn’t look like “shop” work to me? i don’t buy it
First of all there is NO WHERE in THIS country that it is legal for any kid under 16 to get tattooed with or without parental consent. Second, that was NOT done on a shop. That is a SCRATCHER’s work not an artist that would get a job in a shop. Well, not a reputable shop and not a job that they keep for long. Either way, Mom should have a nice tat on her forehead that reads: NO MORE PROCREATION FOR ME! lol
The bad part: That 3 is the next thing to a gang sign. It means Zone 3 in Atlanta. He’s honoring his brother…and rep-ing his hood!
im a tattooist and i woulda inked my own son if he made this choice, parental consent in my state as well, i think you should still educate your children about tattoo and the weight of this choice, but this young boy at least made a good choice and not a bad one about what to get.
I think you’re all being way too harsh here. Yes she should have checked the laws and yes the tattoo looks like crap (she should have checked the artists out as well) but he wanted to memorialize his DEAD BROTHER! It’s not something offensive or outragous (although the work is). I wouldn’t do it but I do understand their reasons. And saying this kid is “scarred for life” because he has a tattoo is just plain ignorant.
Let me clarify- I in no way think this is right but I do in a way understand where she is coming from only because my friend died this last summer of drowning and my son and I were there. He told me he wanted a memorial tattoo when he heard I was getting one and I told him when he was older he could, but at 12 he is too young. Also- I just reread the last part about scarred for life and now I understand what you meant. Sorry, That was my bad.
I don’t see the problem here. The tattoo is fairly modest and inoffensive. It’s not like the kid got an ICP logo or something he’ll regret in a few years. I sincerely doubt at any point in his life he will regret honoring his brother in his own little way.
Don’t get me wrong, I would never let my kids get tattooed that young. But that would be my choice as a parent. This parent made her choice and I don’t think it was at all harmful. It doesn’t deserve punishment, especially something as drastic as jail. I hope whoever decided to prosecute gets fired.
Did you not see my post?!!! That 3 is basically a gang sign!!! Trust me, I’m from that area, and I have done DOZENS of “Zone” tattoos. That is a Zone 3 tattoo!
Yeah, in atlanta tht may be a gang sign, but where he is from it’s not.
Does it really matter if the writting plainly says R.I.P, not hey im in a gang
How on earth would a 10 years old getting ink be acceptable ? Next step what ? 5 years old getting nipples pierced ?
Next is kids being convinced they’re another sex and going on puberty blockers and getting surgeries to alter their bodies. Oh wait! That’s already happening.
How about telling the child, “wait until you are old enough”
@Steve: Why must people go to extreme’s when you hear a news story. It’s ridiculous. It’s not an offensive tattoo. No she shouldn’t have gotten it done, but whoever did it should have known the laws and implemented them. I personally wouldn’t go searching through the law books and ten years for allowing a memorial tattoo is quite harsh. I think you all forget that the kid sat still for however many hours it took to get the tattoo to memorialize a person that was very important to him. Would I allow my own child to do it? No… but the point is she is the parent. She didn’t force him to get it, so how can that be considered abuse. It isn’t hurting anybody else, especially any of you.
Ethics is the word. And this kind of scratch didn’t take “hours”, more like 15 minutes. A mother is supposed to protect her child, even from himself, this is called authority. And tattoos are lifelong decisions, meant only to be taken by adults. Why do I have to state such obvious things ?
But it’s not offensive.
Im sure when he’s older he’s not going to say
” Oh my gosh, doing this in memory of my brother was so stupid. i can’t believe I wanted to remeber him anyway.”
@Riri : wether it’s meaning is offensive or not is not the point : intrinsically a tattoo is incompatible with choices only a grown-up person must make : for example if he ever wants to join some careers, administrations or military institutions, which might be the only way for him to rise above his actual social condition, he will have to get it removed. Does he know that yet, or does he have consience of these implications : no. Because he is a child, and a child should have to be prepared to make choices which will involve him for life, before actually having to choose : that’s the point of education and parental responsability. This is where his mother failed. Which doesn’t mean the scratcher who did this doesn’t share an heavy responsability in this fault : both must be punished.
the young boys body is still growing and that tattoo will not look the same in ten years it will deform as an artist myself the artist should be in jail too the law here in uk is over 18 only parental consent or not
I have tattooes i regret from when i was of legal age so i dont see the issue with age, If society wasnt so ignorant and tattoos didnt affect u in later life then i dont see that there would be an issue, the issues here from what ive read are the content, not that of a memorial tattoo but that of it being a possible simbol for some sort of gang. Jail for this is such a waste of time honestly have the othorities got nothing better to do. Scar or no scar tattoos can be removed and im sure theres a million kids in the world with scars for doing something completely stupid.
Doesn’t Freddie Corbin tattoo a 13 year old when he’s in india on “Tattoo Age”. If everyone’s kicking off about the 10 year old why is he allowed to do it on a show?
Good point and didn’t Will Smiths kid get a tat? But laws don’t apply to the celebs.
I have plenty of tattoos however waited til I was 21 to get any… I also have younger cousins that have tattoos… This kid had the best intention at what he wanted however I wouldnt let my kids get tattooed that young she should have told him to wait a couple of more years… If this was supposedly done in a shop had to be a bad one due to the fact the tattoo artist I know would never tattoo someone that young let alone in a shop…
A 10 year old isn’t legally old enough to make certain decisions and being marked is one of them, what if he said mom I want to get high in my brothers memory, she probably would have said go ahead. A temporary would have been fine and when he got older if he still wanted it no problem, this doesn’t sat much about the one doing the tattoo either that person should also be held accountable. If you’re going to get a tattoo get from a reputable business not from the guy down the road or a friend of a friend, it’s safer and less likely to have problems like this and probably end up with a better looking tattoo because their business depends on it, they have something to lose.
Man all of you are whacked! I agree that=”A 10 year old isn’t legally old enough to make certain decisions” If the kid went to a school teacher to get condoms to have sex with his boy/girl friend, have a surgical procedure, see a doctor to get mind altering medication…etc…. it would be perfectly okay with the state and society. And the parent would not be notified of any of this… But for a parent to get arrested for letting her kid get a tattoo in the honor of HIS BROTHER! Is just asinine. it was done with actual sincerity and meaning. Of course I don’t agree with the mothers decision she should have told him to wait until he was 18. Losing a child has a profound life time emotional effect on a parent and that can lead to irrational decisions when it comes to the memory of the lost loved one. It would have been better to get her some help with the grieving process to dial with the loss of her child and how about parenting classes, to help her with child rearing…not jail.
really people ?????? The tradition of tattoos goes back thousands of years, if he was a native american indain 150 years ago this would have been an every day thing . Just because as a society we don’t see it that way don’t mean it cant be. Yes i have tattoos yes i have kids and would i want them to wait till they were sure of what they wanted yes…. but a memorial piece to ur dead sibling i would say is a pretty solid foundation for a legit tattoo that ud want forever. As for the mom .. i mean its not like she forced her son you know kind of how the government likes to force our kids, idk get vaccinations tell us what we can and cant eat were and how to live among a laundry list of other things. And not for nothing but if this was you I’m sure ud be singing a hole other tune. I mean lets just say your kid died how do u think ud feel????? the mom was only doing what she felt was right for her son and whether u agree or not the kid was ok and non of u got hurt did u. like i always say u don’t like whats on change the channel, don’t call the director up and complain.
(Warning : irony following)
Yeah : let kids do drugs, have sexual intercourses and carry guns from the age of 10 or maybe 8 or 5…
After all in some african countries at war kids carry AK47s when they are strong enough to bear one, and take drugs so they can slaughter more people, they can’t rape because they are not yet develloped enough but I bet they have great tribal tattoos ! South american gangs tattoo their children too, often in memory of fallen gangmembers or family : doesn’t this legitimate memorial tattoos ! Abandonned russian orphans also get ink ; well, they get prostituted too, but with cool jailstyle tattoos !
Child protection is so overrated !
Yes steve that is what i was saying. Your intuitive ability to read into what i sad is simply astounding. I mean its not like we were talking about a mother who lost a son and ten year old that stood long enough to get a tattoo in memory of it and not to go with out saying i have three kids all in that age group. And although there ability to reason may not always be the best ( as can also be said for most adults just look at our government ) but there ability to feel pain and loss is just as sharp as yours in fact most likely better. That said i would prefer a crappy tattoo then drugs and an ak47 as his way of showing his pain.
I do not agree in any way, shape or form a 10 year old having a tattoo. I do not just blame the mother, even though she is clearly an idiot; I blame the tattooist too.
I can understand if the law states 18 and he goes in with his mother at 16 and she lies to say he’s 18 but there is no way you can miss the fact he is a 10 year old boy. I do hope they find the tattooist and lock him up!
Well, one of my good friends got a tattoo at age 12. We live in Ontario, by the way. And her brother was killed by a drunk driver when she was 10, and she begged and pleaded with her parents for two years until they let her get a (very large) tattoo of a guitar on her calf. And as far as I know, in Ontario, as long as the minor has parental consent they can get a tattoo. Of course, some parlours have policies against tattooing minors. Anyways, I don’t think it’s child abuse, and I think jail time is rather harsh.
Either way, I don’t beleive that the mother should be put in jail over this.
She recently lost one of her children, Now they are going to take her away from her other one?
Imagine how much grief the son will be in now without a brother or a mother?
Way to go government.
I think it should be the tattooist who should get in trouble. It’s the Tattooist’s job to let the customer the policies.