Age?

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Tuesday February 5th, 2008 @ 9:05 PM

Filed under: Lip/Cheek, Piercing, Uncategorized

I really want the center of my bottom lip pierced. I have done LOTS of reasearch. & I have talked to lots of people about their lip piercings. Well, I asked my mom if I could get it pierced and she said “Abosolutely no. You’re too young.” I dont see how I’m too young when I’ll be 17 this year…

So, my question is, about how old are people when they get their lip pierced?

Thanks,

Sidra

Hi Sidra,

The age old question of: “How old do you have to be?”

This question is highly subjective and open to a lot of controversy. Certain States in the US prohibit any piercings done on anyone under the age of 18, yet others say its ok so long as they have parents permission. Meanwhile there ARE States where the age limits are a bit more lenient and your technically allowed to sign for yourself at 16 years of age. These rules are put in place for shops via either city/state laws or they are put in place because that’s the age the insurance companies advised the shop to work on,etc.

When I was working in Canada, and even still here in Australia (Here in the Northern Territory), there is no labeled age of consent laws for body piercing. Some people will establish their shops age laws based on the “Age Of Consent Laws” while some shops will make their own laws ie: don’t care about age, or they care a lot about age,etc. The fact is in these countries it is commonly viewed that at 16 you are legally of sound mind and body to say what you want and what you don’t want. Therefore you should be legally able to obtain a piercing so long as you can prove you’re 16 years of age or older.

However with that being said at the end of the day, you still have to go home to your parents. Personally not being a person who at the age of 16-17, wanted to incur the wraith of my parents, I simply waited until I was older to get my mods done. But I will say this dealing with parents on a constant basis, whom aren’t keen on their kids getting pierced. I can definitely say there is ALWAYS a way to get them to come around to allow you to be pierced.

1st: Documentation - Contact shops and find their age policies, as well as city/state laws involving age for body piercings. If it states people under the age of 18 can be pierced, that’s a fact you can point out to your parents.

2nd: School Work - Are you a straight A student or are there any subjects you’re slacking off in? If you aren’t doing well in certain classes why not work on bumping your grades up in those classes while maintaining the other classes. Most kids only have their school grades to fall back on, so that’s what the parents point out. If you have increased the grades in your classes, what can they possibly hold over your head?

3rd: House Work - Do you sit around all day everyday at the house and don’t contribute? A good way to get into their good graces is to start. Vacuum, Dust, Clean, Mop, Re-arrange furniture with them as it will get you into their good books that way.

4th: Maturity - When they shoot you down are you always causing a fuss and crying and screaming like an irrational person? Or do you come at them calmly and rationally and produce solid sound logical facts and questions? Often I find when parents act this way, they are the ones who are being the immature ones…I know I used to LOVE catching my parents acting less mature than I and I reveled in that fact by pointing out questions that make me look like the one acting more mature then my parents.

Also with these things will often come a verbal agreement between parent and child that if they work on all these things, that they can get pierced. “Mom I promise that I will do 1-2-3-4 if you allow me to get pierced.”

And also finally there is the 5th option, getting your own part-time job. That is usually the BIGGEST resolution to the matter because the fact is usually its the parents money going towards kids piercing funds. So if they aren’t pleased with you getting pierced, why should they be spending their hard earned dollar on you getting piercings? Whereas if you get a part-time job and earn your own money, who are they to tell you how to spend your own money?

That was my personal experience with the situation, my parents were really unhappy about me getting pierced at first. But as soon as I obtained a full time job and saved my money, rented my own apartment, paid for my own vacations,etc. My father simply said one day: “He is a man and he earns his own money, what he does with that money is his own business. I may not like it but its his choice on how he spends his money.”

So definitely look into these things I suggested and perhaps sit down and rationally talk to your mother about the situation. Make sure you think about everything she might say and make sure you have a rational and logical retort to her statements of: “You’re too young!” And hopefully that way you might manage to work together with your parent to obtain the piercing you desire.

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