Would You Let Your Teen Get A Tattoo?

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- More and more parents are considering letting their teenage children get tattoos, finds one study.

According to Michigan's C.S. Mott Children's Hospital, 10 percent of the parents sampled for the study said they'd let their teen get a tattoo to mark a special occasion or if the tattoo could be hidden. However, 78 percent of parents with kids at age 16 and 17 said they would absolutely never consider it. Most parents could agree--82 percent of them--that parental consent should be required for all children under 18.

The concerns parents had about their children getting inked included negative health effects like scarring, infection or the transmission of diseases such as hepatitis or HIV. An even bigger concern parents had was the possibility that employers might judge or stereotype their children in the future.

But the biggest concern parents had was that their teen might come to regret their tattoo. Sixty-eight percent of parents expressed this worry.