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Tattoos and piercings seem to be a growing trend. Sure people have always used ink and piercings to express themselves, but more people are choosing to do so at much younger ages. I have nothing against either, in fact I really want a tattoo, but when people get tattoos in high school or shortly after, they often regret them.
Piercings are easier to hide or get rid of than a tattoo. I don't think people think enough about the tattoos they get. Maybe I think too much about it, but I find myself pondering what I will look like 40 years from now and try to envision the tattoo on wrinkly skin. I may be overthinking it, but I'm glad I do because if I would have gotten all the tattoos I have thought I wanted at one time or another, I would hate them.
Compared to high school, what I want is very different, and that includes what I want in a tattoo. I want it to mean something to me, not be completely obvious and in your face, and I don't want it to look terrible when I'm older.
Some people get tattoos as a way to display art on their bodies, and that's fine by me. It's their body they can do what they want with it. But I have heard a lot of young people get a tattoo, just for the sake of getting a tattoo, and two years later they wish they would have waited or gotten something else.
You don't only have to think about getting older, you have to think about future jobs. A lot of businesses do not allow employees to have visible tattoos. So if you have a tattoo on your arm you're going to have to wear long sleeves every day. Do you really want to do that when its 100 degrees out? If you have a tattoo on your wrist or neck, that's going to be even tougher to cover up. It would suck to lose a job opportunity because of a spur of the moment decision to get a tattoo when you were 17.
I think tattoos are great and can be very interesting and a great way to express yourself, but really think about it first. I wanted a Chevy emblem with my initials in it when I was in high school. If I gotten that tattoo, I would be furious with my teenage self because I no longer want that. Tattoos can be removed to some extent, but why not wait until you're more mature and really know what you want?