[Closed] Should there be a minimum age for piercing?

It's not as if the child can consent. But why pierce at all? be it children or adult? I wonder why women think that dangling things from holes in their ears will make them more attractive, or young people think that a rivet through their eybrow will improve their self-esteem.

I agree, it shouldn't be legal, it isn't even the childs choice at that age! and well lets be honest its looks shit.

Culturally acceptable innit.
Bit like circumcision, which used to be pretty much universal in some areas of the UK between the wars.

Used to pierce ears when I worked in a Jewellers/Pawnbrokers many years ago.
We would pierce the ears of anyone who could pay for it themselves. Problem is, if you refuse, many parents will just do it themselves anyway, with the resultant risk of infection, etc.

had the same discussion in a glasgow coffee shop when the kid in the pram (not buggy .. an actual pram) had studs in both ears :s

not a good look

Just saw a baby with earrings the size of a penny.
I fail to see how putting holes in babies for aesthetic reasons is legal.

Generally I'd agree, although in many cultures it's normal.

My wife tells me that in general baby girls born in Brazil will have their ears pierced whilst still very young.

She has said, if we ever have a girl, that she wants her ears pierced. I disagreed with her. Guess we'll have to wait and see who wins that one 🙂

Let the child make that decision when she is old enough to do so!

As a child I did myself more harm and disfigurement learning to walk, riding a bike, kicking balls, falling in bushes and swinging from a rotory clothes line than anyone could administer with a piercing gun. Should we impose minimum age limits for those activities too?

It's perfectly reasonable for the parents to make such a decision (piercing or no piercing) - for my daughters we agreed 10 years old was the the right age.

Childhood accidents arn't deliberate as piercing is.

Their kids their choice but I do think it looks awful.

Babies and toddlers should not have piercings. Only Chav parents think it's acceptable. Usually the same parents who buy their three year old kids quad bikes.

But buying a child a bike or a ball or is deliberate. It's only an ear piercing, teething and Brussels sprouts will cause more upset. It's not to your taste, or mine. But it's not our child. ( I say 'our' child but you,re behind with the Csa payments and you forgot his birthday. I can't believe I trusted you when you said I couldn't get pregnant if we did it up the bumbum)

Anything that's going to leave a permanent physical mark should be left to the individual to choose as and when they're old enough.

(am I now supposed to type 'IMHO', for all the stupid people who think that I believe my opinion is fact?)

It's perfectly reasonable for the parents to make such a decision

I think it should at least wait till the child can actively take part in the decision and loks very silly on the very young

thos holes look silly to me but that what old folk thought about my piercings when i was younger

Nothing permanent about ear piercing...

It's a good way of identifying the spawn of the lower echelons for sure. Probably called Shawayne or LeJackson too 🙂

Could be having the same discussion about circumcision, or even baptism.

For some sections of society this is the norm, for others it's abhorrent.

Personally think it should be up to the kid to decide when they are old enough.

should we defer all decisions about children until they 'are old enough' a pierced ear is no more permanent than a haircut, no more socially divisive than a football shirt.

PMK2060 - Member
Only Chav parents think it's acceptable.

My wife thinks its acceptable and is certainly not a chav, thanks for sharing your prejudices moron 😉

PMK2060 - Member
Only Chav parents think it's acceptable.

Nearly all Spanish girls have their ears pierced at birth, unless you think they're all chavs too?

It's a good way of identifying the spawn of the lower echelons for sure.

My liberal hand-wringing tentacles started fizzling a little there, but mogrim got in before me. Lots of cultures pierce their girls' ears early. I'm not a fan, but assuming they're automatically from an inferior socioeconomic strata to your own lofty position is a bit ****y.

oh come on did you not see the smiley? 🙂

When we were kids my sister wanted her ears pierced, so my Mum made her wait until her 10th Birthday as she was deemed to be old enough to safely look after them / keep them clean to avoid infection etc!

This did however lead to quite an amusing conversation between her and an elderly lady in the village, where the lady asked what she got for her 10th Birthday, to which the angelic 10 year old replied "I got my ears pierced and a shotgun" (my Dad had the same attitude towards shotguns as my Mum did pierced ears)!

Well, I did think it was a bit unlike you. Hook. Line. Sinker.

Piercing ARE permanent. I took mine out 20 years ago. I still have the holes and they are still visable.

Would I let my kids get pierced? Yes. When? At 18 like I was. Purely their decision.

My 6yo is currently pestering to have hers done (best mate has had them recently).

I think MrsV is wavering but I still think she's too young. However, I've no idea what "not too young" is...

mogrim - the fact that Spanish girls have their ears pierced at birth does not make it right. I have an 18 month old daughter and she squeezes through the tightest of spaces to explore her surroundings. A piercing could easily get caught resulting in injury.

pik n mix - does your wife dress your daughter head to toe in Burberry check 😀

pierced ears on kids is just plain wrong and chavvy imo

I don't really see a problem with pierced ears, per sé, as it's not permanent (though I personally think it's pretty stupid). I suppose there's a small risk of infection, and a risk of the studs coming loose and causing harm / being ingested.

The OP mentioned earrings "the size of a penny" - that's not stretched lobes is it, surely?

My Mrs' sister in law pierced her childs ears. She has pulled them several times and they are only studs. Father was fuming, I think it's awful but each to their own. My kid, if I ever have one, won't be getting them at that age. Schools may have changed but when I was there [secondary] they weren't allowed. Granted mobiles weren't allowed either though...

IMO if they're old enough to ask for it then they're old enough to get it done.

I think I was 8 or 9 when I first asked for my ears to be pierced.

I don't think children should be pierced, tattooed or anything cut off for no good reason, period. If breaking your child's skin with a sharp implement isn't a abuse I don't know what is.

mogrim - the fact that Spanish girls have their ears pierced at birth does not make it right. I have an 18 month old daughter and she squeezes through the tightest of spaces to explore her surroundings. A piercing could easily get caught resulting in injury.

Well, yes, I suppose so. Although if she's prone to sticking her head through openings that tight, I'd suggest the ear piercing is the least of your worries. Don't get her ears pierced for the reasons you like, but injury is not a factor I'd worry about.

Just throw it in with tattoos. 18 years isn't it? There is obviously a debate to be had about when the age of consent should be for tattoos etc but I find it strange that piercings aren't considered to essentially the same as tattoos. I have no problem with either incidentally but I cringe when I see babies with pierced ears. Make all the arguments you want about it being culturally acceptable here, there or anywhere my automatic and gut reaction to a baby with a pierced ear is to cringe.

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😆

Babies with ears pierced=Chav Parents

FACT.

We let out daughter have her ears pierced when she was 9-10?? not sure. Anyway, she soon got fed up with them, hasn't wanted them since and there is no sign that they were ever there.

As long as they match the gold sovereign rings I can't see a problem myself