BuccaneerBulletin
Volume 13 Number 2
Oswego High School’s Student Voice
November 2009
Body Art Gaining Popularity Among Teens For many teenagers, getting a tattoo is a rite of passage. In a song by The Who -- aptly titled “Tattoo” -- the band belts out, “Welcome to my life, tattoo. I’m a man now ‘cause of you.” It’s true for girls, too. “Nothin’ says I’m 18 and breakin’ loose like a rainbow-colored butterfly tattoo,” sings Lauren Bryant in her song, “Butterfly Tattoo.” They say each tattoo has a story, and it’s no surprise that everybody tells a different story and expresses themselves differently through their permanent body art. Others, like Junior CJ Spicer, simply stated, “I think they look cool,” which is some people’s sole reason to get one. In the article “5 Reasons People Get Tattoos” by Brian Jackson on AssociatedContent.com, two reasons were “mistake” and “just for fun.” Other reasons include: gestures of love, military service, and religious devotion. Getting “inked,” in some cases, is also an impulse. Matt Christensen, the owner of Spectrum Dermagraphics in Oswego said, “Teenagers don’t always make the best decisions, so something that may be cool now, might not be something they’re going to like for the rest of their life. And if they don’t
find the right artist and do the proper research right away, they might end up with a bad tattoo or they may end up with something they just don’t like. Then, 15 years down the road, they would have to spend an extreme amount of money for laser removal.” Out of the 17 percent of people who regret getting a tattoo, three percent of them say it was a rash decision. Two percent of them say they’re a different person now than when they got the tattoo, and 11 percent say “it was just stupid,” according to polls on skintoday.com. “Anyone under the age of 18 who (got) a tattoo, either got it from a friend in their backyard who has no idea what they’re doing, or from a tattoo artist who is doing something illegal,” stated Dick Falise of Ink Haven in Oswego. “Even a
kid who’s 17 with a parent’s permission can’t get a tattoo.” Christensen also said, “The reason it is unsafe for a teenager to get a tattoo is because New York State says it’s illegal. So, if an artist is willing to tattoo somebody illegally, then it’s really questionable as far as their skills and techniques, different things like that because if they can’t make their money to survive working on people that are of age, then there’s obviously something wrong with that person and they probably wouldn’t be the best person for a teenager to go to in the first place.” Some students are willing to resort to traveling to another state to get a tattoo. Junior Allison Martin stated, “My mom actually let me get a tattoo for my 16th birthday.” Martin went to Florida, which is a state where minors can legally get a tattoo. (Martin’s elaborate tatoo is pictured here.) Famous author Jack London once stated, “Show me a man with a tattoo, and I’ll show you a man with an interesting past.”
for the love of ink photo BY mONEK cULLEN pHOTO Illustration BY cAITLIN sAWYER STORY BY eMILY fULTZ