# Do people tattoo their children? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 12, 2008, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-tattoo-their-children/476847 "2008-12-12T05:35:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![ItsInTheCards](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/bb73d2/32.png) [@ItsInTheCards](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ItsInTheCards)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2008, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-tattoo-their-children/476847/21 "2008-12-12T21:06:10Z")
I’m in Texas. I know of two 12 yr olds that got tattoos over the summer. (Both crosses on their shoulders.) The work was done by the father of one of them. These kids play football with my son and came to show them off immediately after. Apparently it’s pretty common around here for the kids of gang members to get them to prove how “grown up” they are. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2008, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-tattoo-their-children/476847/22 "2008-12-12T21:21:26Z")
> [@MOIDALIZE](#): > > I’ve heard that the parents of twins may get a small, indiscreet tattoo (on the bottom of the foot, for example) on one of the kids to tell them apart. Aside from that, I doubt a parlor would be willing to do anything. I’d think there would be some kind of minimum age. I went to school with a set of identical twins who’s parents did something similiar. One was circumsized, the other left intact. By the time I met them in elementary school their parents didn’t have any problem telling them apart with their pants on. ---
**Author:** ![MOIDALIZE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@MOIDALIZE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MOIDALIZE)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2008, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-tattoo-their-children/476847/23 "2008-12-12T21:32:42Z")
> [@UncleRojelio](#): > > I don’t get this. Firstly, of all the parents I know that actually have twins, they have never had any trouble telling which was which from the day they were born. Secondly, does it really matter which one has which name? Of course it matters which one has which name, if you want to ensure that Bill knows he’s Bill and Dave know’s he’s Dave. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2008, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-tattoo-their-children/476847/24 "2008-12-12T21:53:44Z")
My stepchildren both got tattoos at age sixteen. Their mother signed a consent form, and I believe they were accompanied by their stepdad. ---
**Author:** ![Sapo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Sapo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sapo)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2008, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-tattoo-their-children/476847/25 "2008-12-13T01:03:33Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > It may have been done by a doctor and/or the tattooing age restrictions might not have been in place that many years ago. Back when “only sailors got tattoos” I don’t think most municipalities even considered needing age restrictions for them. With the rise in popularity of inking, legislation happened. Yeah, it used to be that a regulation on the minimum age to join the navy was enough to keep children from getting tattoos. > [@alphaboi867](#): > > I went to school with a set of identical twins who’s parents did something similiar. One was circumsized, the other left intact. By the time I met them in elementary school their parents didn’t have any problem telling them apart with their pants on. That’s the most seriously fucked up thing I have heard. > [@Meyer6](#): > > I went to high school with identical triplets who each had their initial tattooed onto the bottom of their right foot. I didn’t know them well enough to know how the parents convinced a tattoo artist to do that (I believe it would be illegal?). The tattoos were all stretched out and weird looking by high school, of course. That’s a super cool experiment. Have kids, tattoo them with a grid all over their bodies and measure that grid through time. Is there another way to reach the results for this? ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2008, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-tattoo-their-children/476847/26 "2008-12-13T01:17:48Z")
> [@Sapo](#): > > That’s the most seriously fucked up thing I have heard. Er…why? ---
**Author:** ![Sapo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Sapo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sapo)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2008, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-tattoo-their-children/476847/27 "2008-12-13T01:27:58Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > Er…why? Usually messing with people’s genitalia is the kind of stuff that has repercussions later on in life. I can see them reaching puberty, where their potential sexual targets have opinions on circumcision and then wondering why their brother has one thing and they something else. I would have no problem with my kids either being circumcised or not (my boy isn’t), but I cannot see having one kid one way and one the other. Twins or not. ---
**Author:** ![dactylic\_hexameter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d26b3c/32.png) [@dactylic\_hexameter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dactylic_hexameter)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2008, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-tattoo-their-children/476847/28 "2008-12-13T01:30:37Z")
I’m with **Sapo** - I personally am pro-circumcision, but it is a controversial medical procedure. It seems a little overly flip to have two kids and say “Child A, congratulations, you get to keep all of what you were born with. Child B, tough luck”. I mean, did they do eenie-meanie-minee-mo to decide which one got cut? ---
**Author:** ![fisha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@fisha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fisha)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2008, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-tattoo-their-children/476847/29 "2008-12-13T01:34:27Z")
Not to mention identifying them by their genitals. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2008, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-tattoo-their-children/476847/30 "2008-12-13T01:42:22Z")
What’s weird about identifying them by their genitals if they’re just babies, though? It’s not like their genitals are summing up “who they are.” > [@dactylic\_hexameter](#): > > I’m with **Sapo** - I personally am pro-circumcision, but it is a controversial medical procedure. It seems a little overly flip to have two kids and say “Child A, congratulations, you get to keep all of what you were born with. Child B, tough luck”. I mean, did they do eenie-meanie-minee-mo to decide which one got cut? I dunno, I guess if you’re just not the kind of person who cares about circumcision in general, though, couldn’t you maybe see why it doesn’t seem like a big deal? Like for me, I really don’t care either way, so I wouldn’t really mind if one kid had his foreskin and the other didn’t. ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2008, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-tattoo-their-children/476847/31 "2008-12-13T02:07:10Z")
> [@Sapo](#): > > I would have no problem with my kids either being circumcised or not (my boy isn’t), but I cannot see having one kid one way and one the other. Twins or not. Not to be flip, but fine – they’re not your kids. ---
**Author:** ![Sapo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Sapo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sapo)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2008, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-tattoo-their-children/476847/32 "2008-12-13T02:13:41Z")
> [@squeegee](#): > > Not to be flip, but fine – they’re not your kids. In the end. Yes, you are right. ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2008, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-tattoo-their-children/476847/33 "2008-12-13T02:47:46Z")
> [@Solfy](#): > > I don’t believe there is one, but it has information regarding her seizure disorder (which will not change in her lifetime). Ah, I see. I asked because my nephew wears one that states he is a liver transplant patient, is immuno-suppressed, has hypertension, and lists the phone # for his transplant team. Maybe the older he gets, the less the phone # will be needed (he is 1 year old, had his transplant when he was 6 months old). ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2008, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-tattoo-their-children/476847/34 "2008-12-13T04:22:56Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > What’s weird about identifying them by their genitals if they’re just babies, though? It’s not like their genitals are summing up “who they are.” > > I dunno, I guess if you’re just not the kind of person who cares about circumcision in general, though, couldn’t you maybe see why it doesn’t seem like a big deal? Like for me, I really don’t care either way, so I wouldn’t really mind if one kid had his foreskin and the other didn’t. Anyway, didn’t you read the post? No later than middle school, the parents should be able to tell them apart, by which time the other boy can get circumcised too. Everybody wins! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-tattoo-their-children/476847.md?page=1)