Tattoos, your teen and the law

Photo courtesy  Rev Will

It is a nightmare every parent wants to avoid—a teen coming home to display a new tattoo, gotten without permission and by goodness knows who. The mind races with fear of disease or, at the very least, a regretted permanent mark.

According to a government of B.C. health document on tattooing, most complaints about the tattoo industry are because teens have been tattooed. The government advises parents give consent for any tattoo:

"In order to give their informed consent minors must have the maturity to and must understand all the implications of being tattooed."

Law student Deb Weber says that many tattoo parlours do not follow the guideline not to tattoo teens and there is no specific law against it.

B.C. Health Minister Margaret MacDiarmid told the CBC the province does plan to bring in tougher guidelines, but has no plans to make parental consent for teen tattoos a legal requirement.

"To me, the most beneficial thing is for parents to be having the conversation, and to really be thinking, helping their child think long term about what could be the unintended consequences of tattooing or piercing in certain locations,"  MacDiarmid told reporters.

Burnaby tattoo shop owner Yves Sharron says he does not tattoo minors without parental consent.  Even with consent he will sometimes refuse. Sharron has owned his shop, Geronimo Tattoos for 13 years and says the reputation of his shop is far more important than making money off of tattooing teens.

Here is the rest of his response to how he feels as a father and parlour owner regarding tattoos and teens.

Are you a teen who has been tattooed? Did you get a tattoo as a teen? Are you happy with what was done? Is it fair to require teens get consent?