Wales Ban On Tongue And Intimate Piercings For Under 18S

[mikey4444]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-42872192

I am amazed that this daft practise isn't already illegal !

Wales taking the lead again.

[waterboatman]

Me too mikey. But it happens!

[murraymints]

Tattoos are a personal choice..not to my liking..and legally not available to minors....or persons under the influence...supposedly....piercings other than in ears are horrible to my mind and can cause infections and long term harm...so most definitely should be subject to strict controls

[waterboatman]

I don't even like pierced ears minty.

[murraymints]

I had ears pierced at 14... 'twas a rite of passage back then... mum had to come with me...dad was not so happy

[Old_Geezer]

Self harm probably should be prevented for all anyway, as a caring society protects it's citizens, even from their own mental issues.

[waterboatman]

I'm with your dad on that minty. But it's a personal choice.

[mikey4444]

Can anyone give me a good reason to pierce the ears of a new-born baby, other than the vanity of the parent ?

[waterboatman]

Difficult to police OG, but I agree with you.

[waterboatman]

My point exactly mikey.

[kvalidir]

As Desk diary said Mikey you can't have it both ways, either people are savvy enough to elect soeone who can change the lives of everyone in the country and some people in the world AND decide to get a piercing/ tattoo or they aren't. I don't want someone voting my country's next leader in that you consider too much of a moron to decide if they want a piercing or not. Personally I think w need an age of majority on everything, sex, gambling, drinking, piercing, tattoos, driving, voting, and I think that age needs to be somewhere around 16-18. The notion you can vote but not get a tattoo is utterly absurd. That being said I don't care what people look like, not too sure why it bothers you so much, you can't get these things in the UK generally at a young age anyway so it's non news.

[mikey4444]

KV....what is your position on the ear-piercing of new born babies ?

[EDDIE51]

I also think tattoos and piercings are ugly and unsightly. Definitely a step in the right direction. A ban on under 18s is correct, it should apply to the entire UK (and the rest of the world) There are many cases of youngsters forging letters of permission or getting an another adult to write them pretending to be the parent.
I remember when I was a lad, you needed a letter from your Mum or Dad to get a 'crew cut' at the barbers. They were very popular with young lads but not with parents. Kids with neat 'adult looking' handwriting would write letters for those whose parents would not do it. Many barbers were confronted by angry parents having been fooled by a fake permission letter. The same would happen with tattoos & piercings but they would not grow out in a week or two.

[-Talbot-]

I love EDDIE's answer ... always something new and different about them.

[mikey4444]

Eddie....when I was about 8 years old, my best friend at school was an American boy, and he had a crew-cut, which I thought was the bees knees ! I desperately wanted one as well, as I had 'orrible wavey hair, that my Mum thought was wonderful !

So I had to wait until I was much, much older to get that crew-cut !

[kvalidir]

I had my ears pierced when I was a baby, and for me it's no drama. I'm generally against the idea of mutilating babies, although Roma and come Indian people do it for cultural reasons. Since I'm never having children it's not a decision I will ever have to make, but if we ban ear piercing I would also like to see circumcision banned for anything except medical reasons, as it's anathema to me for it to be okay to ban abies having two small ornamental holes poked in their ears but it's fine to chop their foreskin off entirely.

[mikey4444]

KV....on the issue of circumcision, I completely agree with you....yet another mutilation done for "cultural and religious" reasons.

But I am concerned about the piercing of new born babies, and I will admit to little knowledge in this area.

If the majority of these are done commercially, ie by licenced piercing practitioners, then I can't understand how this can be legal, to say nothing of sensible and proper.

[Sqad]

For me, tattooing is absurd, both for the female and the male, the reason goes back almost half a decade when the Consultant in the V.D Clinic ( now called STD Clinic or something equally PR) told us as students "Always suspect syphilis in someone with tattoos."
Reason? because in the trade routes from the Far East to the U.K the seamen would alight at Cairo , get drunk, get tattooed and get a dose of "clap"
That's my feeling about tattoos.

Babies....oddly enough it is usually the lower class ( poor people) or whatever they are called now who pierce their baby's ears just as they adorn their neonates with a bloody great bow around their heads.
Why do they do it? because they are stupid and have no taste.

[douglas9401]

I know what I'd like to have pierced.

[mccfluff]

i don't think babies should have any piercings or any other cosmetic procedure as Kav pointed out. You should be of an age to consent to these things. I had my eared first pierced at 12, and it was my decision.

I like good tattoos done by artists, I can't understand people who choose to have a tattoo which could last their lifetime and they go to someone unskilled and cheap and get these nasty looking things, it doesn't make sense.

[mikey4444]

Morning Sqad !

I am tending to agree with you, although I expect we will both get some stick for it !