Day in and day out teenagers go through the aches and pains of the pressures that come with their high school years. An increasingly common pressure in adolescence is tattoos; a permanent way to mark teenagers’ bodies with impulse and immaturity for the rest of their lives. Not only are tattoos increasing in popularity but also the regrets that come along with them.
From freshman to senior year, completely blank canvases of skin are transformed into tatted slates of regret. Ranging from the cliché anonymous quote that is apparently supposed to mean something extremely deep, to the classic thick, black tribal tattoo that is there for the sheer reason of its “coolness,” teenagers are really just not ready to mark their bodies with something that will stay meaningful to them for the rest of their lives. Having been through only a small fraction of our lives as high school students, we really just cannot be sure what means the most to us as Delaney McQuade(’16) understands when she states that “maybe I would get one when I’m older and it has more symbolism.”
Of course many teenagers do not consider the facts of the future; the number of people undergoing laser tattoo removal increased by 43% from 2011 to 2012 (source: cnn.com). So in reality, “you really have to be one hundred percent sure about what you want,” says Angela Rath(’16) but even if teens convince themselves that their tattoo ideas are meaningful to them, all they need to do is wait a few years for their minds to change.
Anyway, a grown adult who was tattooed when she was a teenager is the best person to take a word of advice from. Ashley Stewart, a reader submitter for an nbc.com article on tattoo regrets states that, “At the time it seemed like a good idea because I was 15.  I don’t think I realized that tattoo’s really are forever.” This surely proves the mindless decisions that teenagers are willing to make too soon in their lives. If high school students would just take a few moments to think about how what seems like a good idea now might not be the best for their future, maybe they would save a lot more money on laser tattoo removals.
If you are thinking about getting your favorite Taylor Swift lyric tattooed across your body, either one day she is going to fall off the face of the planet or you will want to every time you look down at your forearm.