Teens weigh in on stigma around tattoos

BY DANNY CONWAY Sta Reporter

Teenagers, whether or not they like to admit it, make impulsive decisions all the time, from ditching class, to shopli ing, to drinking. Luckily for them, most of their bone-headed mistakes are only consequential in the short term. Tattoos, on the other hand, give young adults an opportunity to permanently change their body during their formative years.

ere are 45 states in the U.S. with laws prohibiting minors from getting tattoos, including California. But in California, once you are 18, you can get a tattoo regardless of your guardians’ approval. For many students, this means they can make a permanent ink decision before they’ve voted in a presidential election.

On his 18th birthday, Senior Sam Aziza jumped at the opportunity to get a tattoo. With his parents’ approval, he tattooed a French saying on his quadriceps as a tribute to his late grandfather.

“My tattoo means to be grateful for what you have,” Aziza said. “My dad immigrated from France and his great-grandfather came from Africa to Italy and then to France. Basically, it means to be grateful for what your family did, and that a lot of people have it a lot worse than you do.”

Although Aziza’s tattoo is friends and certain parents,” Aziza said. “It makes me a little uncomfortable because people in older generations see it differently than I do. ey see it as, ‘oh, they’re trying to be a rebel’ or ‘they’re trying to be a bad person.’ Or like, ‘you can’t get a job with a tattoo,’ and I see it completely di erently.” discreet, he — like many other young adults with tattoos — feels a need to hide it due to the social stigma surrounding tattoos.

Junior Natalia Penaloza has a small tattoo on her back she got during a trip to Peru. Despite the fact that parental approval is required for minors to get tattoos in Peru, Penaloza got hers by herself.

“ ey don’t really ask,” Penaloza said, adding that her parents still don’t know about the tattoo.

“I wear baggy clothes all the time… they are easy to hide,” Penaloza said.

When I was a kid, people got tattoos and it was like…. you were a sailor or you were something bad,” Erle said.

But even as the stigma around tattoos evolves, the decision remains signi cant and, at times, dangerous. Many teens who want tattoos but are not of legal age choose to tattoo themselves, which can lead to skin infections.

Matt Decker, owner of Premium Tattoo in Oakland, has been a practicing tattoo artist since the 1990s. Over the years, Decker has tattooed several teenagers looking for ink.

Tattoos, regardless of peers’ opinions, are an artistic representation of the right to self expression that each and every American possesses.

“It’s hard to get past a rst impression sometimes, but by the same token, you shouldn’t be limited in your own artistic expression by someone else’s bigotry,” Erle said.

“ ere are certain people who I’m reluctant to show [my tattoo to], like my childhood

In recent years, tattoos have become more and more common in the U.S. Around 62% of millennial parents have at least one tattoo, according to online trend site YPulse, and general public opinion seems to be veering away from the conservative viewpoints of older generations.

Art of Video teacher Stephen Erle has worked at Burlingame for 30 years and seen the change in perspective rst-hand.

“I think tattoos have gotten a little di erent. Over the years, they’re not as frowned upon.

“As long as they’re 18, I don’t second guess it,” Decker said. “If they are underage, you don’t tattoo that. Not only is it illegal, but people should wait for things that they want. It’s a valuable lesson.”

With two children of his own, Decker empathizes with parents who push back against their children’s tattoos. At the same time, he respects his customers’ independent rights — as long as they are of age, of course.

“Parents are always going to think that what their kids do is weird and wrong, but, you know, that’s just how it goes,” Decker said “Letting go as your child gets old enough to make their own decisions is an incredibly hard thing to do as a parent.”

BY JEANNINE CHIANG Sta Reporter

On popular shopping sites such as Shein and Etsy, trending jewelry pages are lled with varieties of jade Buddha and cross necklaces. Here, you won’t nd traditional gold and silver cross necklaces or smooth, green Buddha pendants — expect fashion-forward kaleidoscopic, bedazzled interpretations of the religious symbols claiming to give you good luck.

Because fast fashion trademarks allow for the mass production of religious jewelry, it is easy for teenagers to follow these trends, no matter how eeting. And because accessories cost just a couple of dollars each, religious jewelry is accessible to anyone.

But the prevalence of a ordable religious symbols can undermine their spiritual signicance. For instance, sophomore Anastasia Ku, a follower of Buddhism, shared that in order for a jade Buddha to have its full purpose, it needs to be gi ed to you. In her view, buying the symbol from a cheap website for its aesthetic value subverts its religious purpose.

“I feel like a lot of people [who wear religious jewelry] don’t understand the religion and they don’t know much about it. ey only wear it because it’s a trend,” Ku said. “To me, as long as you kind of understand the religion, or have family members who are Buddhist, then I think it’s ne. But if you’re completely not aware of what Buddha is and don’t understand the religion, then it’s quite disrespectful to be wearing it.”

Although Ku believes that religious jewelry can be worn as long as the wearer is respectful, courteous and aware of the meaning behind the symbols, many are more critical of those symbolic one.

Traditionally, the cross symbol emphasizes faith and a Christian’s loyalty to their religion. According to Pope Francis’s teachings, wearing a cruci x as a fashion accessory who have adopted the trend.

“I feel like crosses should only be worn by Christians. I think that cross necklaces are a sign of you supporting God and that if you are not Christian, it is just pure disrespect,” sophomore and Christian Jayden Harjani said.

Many popular in uencers have appropriated the cross symbol. Kim Kardashian, for example, bought Princess Diana’s amethyst cross pendant for over $200,000, setting an example for teenagers to follow. Among such public gures, religious jewelry and accessories seem to be a fashion decision rather than a contradicts Christian morals because it idolizes the cross. Additionally, religious followers fear that people will focus on the presentation of the cross as opposed to the symbolism of God itself. Because Christians wear the cross necklace as a sign of devotion, an Atheist who claims the same aesthetic could be seen as excessively discourteous, according to Sweet & Spark. Because of Pope Francis’s teachings, many Protestant denominations were afraid of religious images, and its jewelry was generally not worn during the Protestant Reformation.

“It doesn’t bother me [when others wear a cross necklace] but to people who are deeply religious, it could be viewed as an appropriation that may be seen as both insensitive and o ensive. Religious jewelry shouldn’t be a type of style,” sophomore Andrew Lee said.

Religious jewelry can still be worn to show respect and interest in the faith. Although many wear the cross and jade Buddha for reasons beyond its snazzy image, it’s essential to acknowledge the purpose the jewelry may serve for Christians and Buddhists.

“I feel like no matter how many times you tell someone ‘oh, we don’t wear that [religious jewelry] because you’re not Buddhist,’ they’re not going to listen. I just think that my religion shouldn’t be a fast fashion trend,” Ku said.