Why do kids suddenly want tattoos? If you walk through the crowded hallways of any high school you will be able to pick out at least a dozen teenagers with some kind of tattoo. What was once only sported by rebels and biker gangs is now commonly found on the average high school student. As social media and popular websites broadcast the body art as something found to be very attractive and “trendy”, youth are buying into the fad by tatting themselves up before they can even think about whether or not a permanent piece of art is worth having on their body forever.

Now, I personally have nothing against the application of tattoos at any given age because it is a form of expression such as dying your hair or wearing certain clothes, but the recent shown interest in tattoos is astonishing. Do people actually realize what they are doing, or are they getting tattoos just to do it?

“I have my grandmother’s name tattooed. I don’t really have a reason why I got it, I just did,” senior Jasmine White said.

In past decades, parents would not normally allow their children to get a permanent tattoo due to the way society would perceive their children. However, as society continues to change and become warmer to things such as gauges, wild hair colors, and tattoos, parents have started to become more accepting of the idea as well.

“In the last 10 years, we’ve seen more and more teenagers getting tattoos and getting larger tattoos,” owner of Tattooville, Patrick Dean said.

Recent studies show that in the past three years, 40% of teens have tattoos and from those, half have more than one. Even I had contemplated getting a large tattoo while scrolling down a seemingly endless array of tatted teens on Tumblr before I began to comprehend the cost and responsibilities that would come with a tattoo. It is very easy to contract diseases and infection through getting a new tattoo, especially if you are young or you get it from an inexperienced or an unsanitary professional as well. Not every nice looking parlor is as good as it seems. Although tattoos can be removed, removal is a very painful and expensive process.

On the other hand, there are also many teens that do thoroughly think about getting tattoos and have a reason to get one. Not every individual seen with ink is an tormented youth trying to rebel from their parents. For some teens, getting a tattoo is a way to show remembrance to something or someone, and it can also be very symbolic and personal to them.

“I got my tattoo over the summer. It was my first tattoo so I wanted it to be something special. I wanted it to mean something to me and be something that I could look at every day. I feel that there is a huge story behind it. It’s a reminder to me every day,” junior Jordyn Pohlers said.