Teenage girls and their 'wants'

mountainofdebt

Oh for the love of God delay her having a tattoo so long as you can!

I hate tattoos on women (yes I know that's sexist!) but just imagine her being a bride and wanting her hair up ......only to show a lovely tattoo around her neck, and how on earth is she ever going to get glammed up with a tattoo on show.

The other good reason for her not to have a tattoo is what career does she want? Some careers have a strict tattoo policy which she make want to look into first.

System

Ah tattoos and piercings. My mum let me get my ears pierced when i was in year 6..but that was all i was allowed. I think at 15 i wanted my belly button done-and she said she'd come with me, but i chickened out. However on my 16th birthday i went and got my ears pierced a second time-she wasn't happy about that. I wanted my lip doing for years but wasn't allowed it at school or work, so waited till the grand old age of 20 to get that done.

At 18 i wanted a tattoo...i even went into the tattoo/piercing studio with the intent on getting one, but chickened out and got my top ear pierced instead. I'm glad i didn't get one then as it would have been a crap choice. Now at 26 i'm still toying with the idea but until i decide where to have it i won't be getting it done. So for tattoos i think 18 is a good age, but i think piercings are fine at 16.

I don't think changing the drinking age to 21 would actually achieve anything, kids will still find a way to drink and it would absolutley kill the pubs/nightclubs in university cities-they'd have no customers (and selfishly that would have meant i had no job whilst at uni-worked in a nightclub-), speaking of which you realise by upping it to 21 you'd actually by default stop shops/pubs/bars/supermarkets from being able to employ under 21s and they wouldn't be able to serve alcohol So keep it at 18.

Driving i think is fine at 17, to be fair you can leave school at 16 so you might need to drive for a job. Though obv if you change the school leaving age i suppose you could change that too, but it would isolate a lot of 17 year olds who for example live in villages and may need to be able to get out and about and have some independence.

Sex, well its subjective, its easy to say wait until 18 but all that m,easn is that i would still have had sex at 16, just illegally, because at 16 i felt ready (well actually i felt ready at 15 but insisted we waited till i was 16), and at 16 i was in a long term relationship-why shouldn't i have been allowed to have sex? I was responsible and used the implant and condoms. Maybe we should better educate youngsters (tip-leaving it till 16 is too late) and drive home safe sex.

All that said i think marraige should be 18, Purely cos its a massive expensive commitment and i don't think many 16 year olds are still with their first partner.

Mad-Frog

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

When I remember the kind of idiot I was at 16, the kind who thought she knew everything and the parents were numpties who know nothing about anything, I dread to think of what sort of rubbish tattoos I might have chosen for myself back then. Sometimes, as a parent you just have to be the unreasonable and unpopular one protecting your youngsters from themselves and their bad decisions.

n.b. I think tattoos on women are extremely naff although I appreciate that this is not a view shared by many.

I agree with this apart from the tattoo opinion

Does nobody remember what it was like to be 16? You knew everything, your parents were old fashioned and didn't 'get' youth of today

Most 16 year olds have their ears pierced, tattoos 'might' be seen in the same blas! way.

OP have you explained to her about how painful getting a tattoo is? albeit a non long pain it still hurt me when I had mine, I was 30 and it is on my thigh so nobody will ever see it apart from OH and holiday peeps.

I agree about letting her choose or design a tattoo for when she is 18, I must admit I would like another one, on my other thigh, i have seen a turtle design I have fallen in love with, I would tell her not to have one on her wrist or shoulder (as in the bride example) but her first somewhere she can cover up.

My ex BIL still tells me how vile I was when i was 16, I don't actually remember being horrible but he wouldn't lie, I was horrible to my lovely Dad, the tales he tells make me cringe over 20 years later

Saturnalia

I've been to 3 weddings in recent years where the brides had tattoos on their upper backs or upper chests, and they chose dresses & updos that showed off the tattoo. And they looked great.

BUT those women were well past 20 when they got the tattoos, had spent years thinking about what they wanted and saving the money to pay the best tattooist they could find. It wasn't a teenage whim they were stuck with 15 years later. So that's probably the difference.

Saturnalia

And forget all about these temporary tattoos that are supposed to last X number of years then fade. They either don't fade at all, fade a little so they look like a bad old tattoo, or fade in patches.

Don't go near a tattooist that claims to be able to do these - they are a liar and not someone you should be letting work on your body in any circumstances!

19lottie82

I honestly think that any parent who gives theri child permission to get a tattoo at the age of sixteen, needs their head examining !

pawsies

It amuses me you can have sex at 16 but can't buy sex toys, buy !!!!!! or do any other adult-related things until you are 18

embob74

I used to think any tattoos looked cheap but ended up getting one on my 30th birthday. I did get something very personal to me and on my back where most people will never get to see it. I still think too many tattoos can make you look cheap and could go against you in future employment.
I know of quite a few women who married and were happy to flaunt their tattoos though - one even had hers touched up so it looked new for her wedding!
I think sex should be an 18 limit. I doubt many would take heed but I think you need a lot of maturity to cope with the responsibilities a sexual relationship brings and most people I know regret having sex as young as they were.
My older girls both got tattoos. I wasn't happy as I'd have preferred them to wait a few more years to be really sure, particularly as one had swallows which is the ultimate in chav to me! I told them they should be aware it is a lifelong decision and they should be able to cover up if need be.
Driving lessons should be a 16 age limit. I'd like driving lessons in school though so responsible driving is respected and I agree with my OH that cars should be restricted (they restrict powerful motorbikes until you have a few years experience so why not powerful cars?)
Voting should be at 16 - that would keep the politicians on their toes and hopefully make teenagers take more notice of government policies, politics should be taught in schools so kids have an understanding of how the country works and how they can make a change.
I have never liked little children having their ears pierced. My kids got their ears pierced at 12 years old and only after many years of them begging. I did make them watch the process on other kids first so they could see how it hurt!
I think NMW should apply from the day you start work. It is unfair somebody under 21 is classed as being worth less.
I remember reading somewhere that people can no longer go to Gretna Green on the spur of the moment. It has to be booked in advance?

heartbreak_star

As pointed out by Saturnalia, alleged semi-permanent tattooing does NOT work. All that will happen is you'll be left with a patchy mess that you'll probably have a real tattoo to cover up.

I have 8 tattoos. I love every one of them. My first was at 18, my last at 31 and I'm still designing more I will happily show the ones on my upper back off on my wedding day.

OP - I wanted a tattoo at 16, in fact I wanted several. I sat down and meticulously designed and planned them - that way I knew I still wanted them at 18

HBS x

DS4215

Lance wrote: »

There are many jobs where long hair has to be tied up. In this country there are not massive amounts of jobs available and competition is keen so you and daughter need to consider the effect of visible tattoos on a future employer.

My neighbour had a full sleeve tattoo on his arm at 18 and a student. A year later he left college and tried for the police - only to find that tattoo's below the elbow were a big NO and he couldn't get in...