Ear piercing for boys - For or against?

squibbs25

My boy has one and he's 13, i'll probally get flamed for this as he's had his for years.
He knew his own mind from a very young age and wanted it done and i was more than happy for it to be done. As previously mentioned if he decides to take it out and it closes up no harm done, if he decides to keep it then one (still) very happy son!

I have a different dilema as said son wants to grow his hair out and now its reached that completely unmanageable stage and he looks a total muppet i'm trying to 'encourage' him to get it cut LOL
Personally i prefer the earring arguement over the hair one anyday!!!!!!

juno

shy-but-need-help wrote: »

Juno has a good point about getting it done well- some places with autoclav the piercing guns but most won't and just use sterile packs of piercing studs assuming that's good enough, a decent piercer will use needles.

It's one that heals really quickly if taken out so I'd let him- he'll most likely grow out of the phase soon enough. He's 12 and there's nothing saying he has to keep it in for life, plenty of time for dressing like a doctor/lawyer/politician if he ever decides he wants to be one.... if we were all only able to take on the professions associated with how we looked at 12 it'd be a worrying world!

Guns aren't autoclavable

rachbc

squibbs25 wrote: »

My boy has one and he's 13, i'll probally get flamed for this as he's had his for years.
He knew his own mind from a very young age and wanted it done and i was more than happy for it to be done. As previously mentioned if he decides to take it out and it closes up no harm done, if he decides to keep it then one (still) very happy son!

I have a different dilema as said son wants to grow his hair out and now its reached that completely unmanageable stage and he looks a total muppet i'm trying to 'encourage' him to get it cut LOL
Personally i prefer the earring arguement over the hair one anyday!!!!!!

see i love my boy with longer hair and he pleads with me to get it cut - i think it looks younger and well chavvier how he has it short wiht shaved sides and too much gel!

jackieb

My husband and 3 sons all had their ears pierced. Can't say I was ever keen. One of my sons even had his eyebrow done twice, which I hated. Another son had it twice in one ear, and the eldest had it done 3 times (he was the one with the brow piercings). I am glad to say that they've all grown out of the phase and none of them (including my husband) has had any piercings for quite a few years now, and the youngest son is now 18. I think they all wore them for a couple of years and just got fed up of them. The eldest got his first piercing at 11, the youngest at 5.

The strange thing is, I now have a 15yo daughter who doesn't even want her ears done.

shy-but-need-help

juno wrote: »

Guns aren't autoclavable

Aren't they? I always thought the metal ones were? All the more proof to go to a piercing parlour/studio rather than a place with a gun and a sign saying £5.99 then Not to mention the bruising with the gun piercing :eek: (I grit my teeth when I see it being done in a certain high street store by people who've had maybe half hours training :eek: )

My only child to want her ears pierced so far had hers done by the same studio that pierced my DH's tongue and we'd done alot of research before chosing where to have that done, making sure their health and safety was up to scratch.

JodyBPM

Honestly I would think a 12 year old girl was too young to have pierced ears, let alone a 12 year old boy. I think piercing on either gender before about 16 look chavvy, but I'm an old fashioned uptight prude.

No doubt I will have to chill out a bit when my two get a bit older, but for now, its a no from me.

TBH in this area, the only boys with piercings (or indeed girls below about 10 with piercings) come from the troublemaking rough families. Its not the norm for children to have piercings here and they would have very negative associations. I'm sure that varies from one part of the country to another, though.

Gloomendoom

Ear rings on boys/men always remind me of the Alas Smith and Jones sketch "Poofs and Pirates".

Each to their own though.

balletshoes

JodyBPM wrote: »

Honestly I would think a 12 year old girl was too young to have pierced ears, let alone a 12 year old boy. I think piercing on either gender before about 16 look chavvy, but I'm an old fashioned uptight prude.

No doubt I will have to chill out a bit when my two get a bit older, but for now, its a no from me.

TBH in this area, the only boys with piercings (or indeed girls below about 10 with piercings) come from the troublemaking rough families. Its not the norm for children to have piercings here and they would have very negative associations. I'm sure that varies from one part of the country to another, though.

it absolutely does vary - it can also be cultural. Most of the girls in my DD's school who are from non-white British families had their ears pierced before starting primary school - my OH also expected that our DD would have her ears pierced as a toddler, as thats normal in his culture. I believe thats a choice she should make herself though - as it turns out she had them pierced about 6 months ago, aged 9, she got an infection in one ear, which has cleared up fine with antibiotics, but she doesn't want to put earrings in again.

I have to say, I don't even notice if a young boy has an ear pierced, it must just pass me by because its so common to see it here.

lostinrates

peardrops wrote: »

Son wants to be a vet or work with animals anyway (well that's this weeks occupation anyway)!

Don't know whether its still the case now but when I was a student (animal sciences) piercings were allowed but frowned upon for safety and hygiene. on horses courses they had to be elastoplasted over if left in, and only studs allowed.

Now, as an occasional employer with animals looking to employ full time in the future I would prefer (and if I'm allowed to then I will require) no earings in the work place.

jackieb

I can understand why some people think it's chavvy. I kind of agree, that's probably why I didn't really like it. We're not a rough family though, and not chavvy either. I think I may be a bit liberal, that's all. Even though I didn't like it when my boys got it done (and it was me ultimately who allowed them to ), they were really keen. I'm glad I let them get it done though. They've discovered now that it's not what they want. I'm just glad none of them have ever wanted tattoos!