I don’t know. I think the circumstances should be taken into consideration. This is not some whimsical tattoo that he’s going to regret later in life… it’s a tribute to his dead brother. I don’t think it’s any worse that the idjits who get newborns ears pierced.

I hate tattoos so I personally am already a little biased-I just think their tasteless. Memorializing can be done is other ways and this was completely irresponsible of the mother. She should absolutely be held accountable.

I agree with the ear piercing comments. I think that’s totally barbaric until the kid is old enough to WANT it done. In this case, the kid wanted it done and I think circumstances may need to play a factor in this issue.

If the parent allowed the child to get a tattoo then no one should have any say so in it. Thousands of thousands of kids get the skin pierced and no one never says nothing, a teenage can drop out of school at 16, and we want to know what is wrong in society. People tend to your own business and allow parents to raise their own children. That is what is wrong with America. Your kid shows their butt in a store and you discipline your child and you get home to the cops sitting at your house because now you have abused your child. But wait when your child breaks into your gun cabinet and takes a gun to school and shots someone, then everyone wants you to be on trial for murder. Society either needs to make a decision to allow parents to raise their kids or decided that the parents will not be held accountable for the actions of their child. Leave the woman alone. She did nothing wrong. Just because it was not right in your eyes and may not be okay for your child does not mean it was wrong for her child to remember his brother in such a manner of love.

@ JASPER LA’CONYA: Kudos! You make an excellent point.

Its best to keep the law as is. The tattoo artist should know the law and refused to do it. He’s at fault, not the mother.

Totally agree with Jasper. And where is this law saying that children need to be of a certain age to get a tattoo? You can’t just arrest this woman because of a biased opinion. I mean, I wouldn’t personally let my child get one at this age, but I had no idea that it was illegal!

Most states actually say minors can’t get tattooed period. I did a little research on this because I also blogged about this. In this particular case while the mother was definitely misguided and ignorant to the law I think the tattooist should have known better. So it sounds like she didn’t go to a legit tattooist. Well unless she held a gun to the tattooists head, but I didn’t get the impression that that’s what happened. This boy has a lot of growing to do still though so it’s perfectly reasonable for someone to say don’t tattoo a 10 year old. I just really think the tattooist is way more at fault here than this mother. Who I imagine is trying to cope with her own grief right now.

And if it is illegal to tattoo someone under 18 why did the tattoo artist do it in the first place? He/She is to blame as well…

ear piercing, tattooing, and circumcision are all unnecessary body modifications , yet newborns can get earrings and their foreskin sliced off without consent , boy asked for it mother did not do it without his consent or force him, also why should the tattoo artist be more heavily prosecuted? not his job to discern what is right for someone else’s child. Might i add i do not think the mother should be prosecuted for allowing her son to get a tattoo, nor should the tattoo artist unless when opening shop he was given federal guidelines ..unless he wasn’t licensed ….then that is a whole can of worms he brought on himself ., personally i would not allow my children to get tattoo’s while they are under my roof, when they are on their own as adults they can do what ever the hell they want, tattoo their faces, metal spikes coming out of their skull whatever do i think the mother should have waited..yes because . for one the skin stretches as you age the tattoo is going too look askewed, two, because while his heart was in it at the time, later on he might regret it. or even worse throw it in her face

I agree – what’s the difference between any other body modifications we (society) do to our children withOUT their consent? This kid wanted it done, his mom said yes. True, if it really is the state law that anyone under 18 can’t get a tattoo (consent or not), then the tattoo artist should have said no. But again, the same goes for ear piercings, yet almost every girl gets them done long before they’re 18. With that being said, we have buried two beloved sons and if our living daughter wanted to get a tattoo in memory of her brothers at age 10, I would make her wait until she’s 18. I feel the same way about piercings, even ears. Also imagine the state of mind the mother is in, assuming her child’s death is fairly recent (within a couple of years) – I know what she feels – when your child dies, you’re living in this fog. You want your child back more than anything in the world. You want your child remembered by everyone forever. You fight to keep their memory alive because everyone keeps telling you to “forget” and “move on”, when that’s not a choice us as bereaved parents have. We can’t forget our children, nor would we ever want to. Dead or alive, they are our children forever and loved eternally. When you have living children left, you are willing to give them everything they want because you will never be able to give your dead child anything ever again. So when her son expressed interest in getting this tattoo in memory of his brother, I don’t blame her for saying yes. However, if our daughter wants tattoos or piercings, she can wait until she’s 18 like I did. I want her to be able to get them without my consent if she wants them. I MIGHT let her get her ears pierced if she really wants them starting around 12 years old.

Jasper (and his followers)–children can’t get body piercings in most states either. For whatever reason, ear piercing is ok with parental consent. I’m not saying that makes sense, but laws are laws. Yes, we should be able to raise our children how we see fit, but you can’t just go around breaking laws because you disagree with them.