Daughter got tattoo on a high school trip to Belieze

[AuntTudie]

My 17 year old went on a trip to Believe with EF Tours through her high school. She came back with a shit tattoo. Before the trip we had several meetings with the teacher in charge. We had to sign a waiver if we allowed our 18+ year old to drink on the trip since in Belieze that is the legal age.

There was no discussion about getting tattoos, only temporary Henna tattoos. My daughter said the teacher went with them to this tattoo shop. Although I know that it was my daughters decision, I believe it was done under peer pressure.I think the teacher should have counseled the kids against making a rash decision that would be so permanent.

I messaged this teacher and he said he had all the students have their parents give permission via facebook or text. I did not give my permission. I told him the tattoo was of poor quality and would have to be fixed. He offered to have it fixed. Mind you, I was not asking for him to pay and I don't want him to.

The things I am most concerned about are the cleanliness of the shop, clean needle, and regret.

I am pretty tattooed myself. I have talked to my daughter about tattoo choices and we had agreed she would get her first after she turned 18. Although I know it was ultimately her choice, I think it was done under major peers pressure under the teachers watch. I am pissed off. Not sure if I sould or should not hold this teacher accountable. Mind you, it was not "technically" a school sponsored trip.

This is the so called artist who did the shit tattoo Ken Richmond | Artistic Skin Designs Inc.

How do I know he used clean needles. I can't really find any tattoo regulations for Belieze. Do you think my daughter needs a blood test?

[jen7]

Wow, that sucks and I would be absolutely enraged.

[Graeme]

On the bright side, it is now more likely than ever that your daughter is going to get a panther tattoo, so it's not all bad.

[tatB]

punish her by not letting her cover it or fix it.

[zetroc]

That really sucks. Shame on the guy who did it and on the teacher for allowing and enabling it. But unless you're willing to fly down to Belize and kick the guy's ass yourself there isn't really a whole lot to be done about the tattoo right now. The bigger issue is the breach of trust - if the teacher asked for permission via text/FB message and got it from somebody, who is the person who falsely provided it?

Good luck. I'd be willing to bet that your kid will regret it sooner than not, and that may serve as punishment enough.

[heathenist]

I think we probably need to see the tattoo.

Honestly, the guys work isn't THAT bad. I was expecting scratcher quality.

If you're really worried just go have her tested soon. Is the tattoo healed? Does it seem infected?

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Shame on the guy who did it

Why? Is it illegal to give tattoos to 17 year olds in Belize? If not, I don't really see what the guy did wrong.

[bongsau]

The health risks of tattooing is something many people take for granted as tattoos become more popular and accessible. Perhaps even more serious collectors can get too comfortable getting their tattoos made. I have a buddy who gets tattooed regularly in Cuba where it is still somewhat illegal. That's risky business, however he's experienced and a grown-ass man, understands, accept and can identify risky conditions.

Like how bad of a tattoo? Buddy's portfolio looks fairly generic but not kitchen-scratcher quality. A shitty tattoo does not need to be fixed...I say let your 17yo live with the visible reminder of a bad decision and let her deal with the consequences in the future i.e. let her deal with a cover-up or laser of a dumb teenage mistake. Does she like the tattoo

The Belize shop (from website and facebook photos) looks fairly clean and legit, cleaner than getting tattooed at a tattoo convention.

Does your kid have the Hep A/B TwinRx vaccination? If they do (which they should if they are travelling), likely nothing to worry about. But if you want to turn this into a teaching moment, put the kid through the process of getting a blood test (is that expensive in the US?). It will smarten her up for the future and teach her about the health risks of tattooing and other risky behaviours.

You'd think though with the quality work her mom wears she wouldn't have been a dumb teenager...but hey I'm sure we've all got caught in the moment about the youth.

That is bizarre about the teacher though and pretty poor leadership on his part. Not sure what to comment about that.

[zetroc]

Why? Is it illegal to give tattoos to 17 year olds in Belize? If not, I don't really see what the guy did wrong.

Maybe it's just me, but I wouldn't take a Facebook or text message as parental permission - they're too easily faked.

[Tornado6]

Is getting bad tattoos how kids rebel against parents with great tattoos?

[AuntTudie]

I think we probably need to see the tattoo.

Honestly, the guys work isn't THAT bad. I was expecting scratcher quality.

If you're really worried just go have her tested soon. Is the tattoo healed? Does it seem infected?

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Why? Is it illegal to give tattoos to 17 year olds in Belize? If not, I don't really see what the guy did wrong.

I'm pissed at the teacher. I just threw in the guy who did it to get some feedback from experienced artist or collectors.

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I think we probably need to see the tattoo.

Honestly, the guys work isn't THAT bad. I was expecting scratcher quality.

If you're really worried just go have her tested soon. Is the tattoo healed? Does it seem infected?

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Why? Is it illegal to give tattoos to 17 year olds in Belize? If not, I don't really see what the guy did wrong.

I'm pissed at the teacher. I just threw in the guy who did it to get some feedback from experienced artist or collectors.

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Agreed. But she said she just told him it is ok. And he does not have the message to show me. Believe it or not my daughter is a very good kid and well known for being good. I'm guessing he just took her work for it. So basically my "good" kid snowed him big time.

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Oh lawdy, let us hope not!

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The problem is, I don't think she thinks it is bad. Maybe it is not horrible. But not up to my standards for sure.

[jen7]

I think that teacher has no business leading trips with kids in the future. I would take this up with the principal of the school.

[AuntTudie]

It's healed with no scarring. Lines are super thin. Personally, I think the guys work sucks. Some things are not too bad. But he is defiantly hit and miss on quality. I'm pissed at the teacher. The teacher has tattoos. Hell, he could have at least did some research on the shop and looked at portfolios.

[Graeme]

Maybe it's just me, but I wouldn't take a Facebook or text message as parental permission - they're too easily faked.

I think the point @heathenist was trying to make is that in Belize it might not be necessary for a minor to have parental permission to get a tattoo. Where I live there is no regulation for tattooing and hence no minimum age to get a tattoo or piercing. This website explaining the law here in Quebec says that legal opinion is mixed when it comes to children under 14 (yes, under 14) needing parental permission for a tattoo or piercing, but anybody over the age of 14 is capable of making their own decisions. That doesn't mean most shops are tattooing minors. Most legit shops won't do it, but that's entirely voluntary. But basically without knowing the law regarding tattooing in Belize I wouldn't assume this guy is shady just because he tattooed a seventeen year old.

[heathenist]

I think the point @heathenist was trying to make is that in Belize it might not be necessary for a minor to have parental permission to get a tattoo. Where I live there is no regulation for tattooing and hence no minimum age to get a tattoo or piercing. This website explaining the law here in Quebec says that legal opinion is mixed when it comes to children under 14 (yes, under 14) needing parental permission for a tattoo or piercing, but anybody over the age of 14 is capable of making their own decisions. That doesn't mean most shops are tattooing minors. Most legit shops won't do it, but that's entirely voluntary. But basically without knowing the law regarding tattooing in Belize I wouldn't assume this guy is shady just because he tattooed a seventeen year old.

Yeah, this is the point I was trying to make. Sure, the teacher leading the trip should have known better, but the tattooer isn't really at fault here.

And don't get me wrong, I wouldn't get tattooed by that dude, but I was expecting scratcher quality, when really it's just standard lower-tier shop work.

[AuntTudie]

I set up n appointment for tomorrow for blood work since I am not sure of the serialization of the needle. Thing is, my daughter HATES needles and kind of freaked out last time she had blood drawn. They need tons of blood for this test. Part of the consequence of not knowing anything about tattooing. She said he "wiped the needle off, I think". Ughh...fingers crossed for clean results. Posting a pic in a minute....stay tuned.

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Maybe not a horrible tattoo. Very amateur. Tattoo artist how difficult is it going to be to make this look beautiful? It is about 2.5'x2.5'

[PinkUnicorn]

Tattoo artist how difficult is it going to be to make this look beautiful? It is about 2.5'x2.5'

Well, if it's really 2.5' x 2.5' it's going to be very difficult to cover! :)

(Presumably it's really 2.5" x 2.5"...)

[jen7]

That's pretty jacked.

Also, if it is where I think it is, I double down on my outrage at the teacher's poor judgement. Intimate area for a minor to be getting work.

You should really talk to the principal.

[AuntTudie]

Well, if it's really 2.5' x 2.5' it's going to be very difficult to cover! :)

(Presumably it's really 2.5" x 2.5"...)

Right. Inches not feet. I thought maybe just a stronger outline shading and a little color added. Not a total cover up

[AverageJer]

Is getting bad tattoos how kids rebel against parents with great tattoos?

Noooo!!

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Yikes, this would make me angry at everyone involved- daughter included. I'm sure you as a tattooed parent had spoken to her about getting responsible tattoos as she ages into adulthood.

Best of luck with the blood work. The tattoo itself looks to me like it can be turned into a decent tattoo without much trouble- but what do I know. I'll let your artist deal with that. Fingers crossed all around.

[AuntTudie]

You'd think though with the quality work her mom wears she wouldn't have been a dumb teenager...but hey I'm sure we've all got caught in the moment about the youth.

I got a hold of some Indian ink when I was 14. Got a nice scar on my shoulder where I got it cut out years later.so I know kids can do dumb shit. It just breaks my heart that she would go and do this. We talked about her first tattoo. She wanted to get a special one with me. Her idea. So even though it was her decision in the end, I can't help but think peer pressure was a major factor. Oh well, can't be undone. She seems to like it and I'm trying not to criticize the work in front of her. But we ARE off to the docs tomorrow to get the dreaded blood test. She was vaccinated for the trip . So we will see what the doc says.

[polliwog]

Well, that could be worse. If she likes it now, great; if she wants it covered or redone later, that looks doable too. Fingers crossed everything was sterile.

This sounds like awful judgment on the part of the teacher. Most of my friends and family who teach at a HS level feel they need to be pretty cautious these days. (I guess this is another conversation entirely, though.)

[heathenist]

Hey, at least she will have a cool story about getting her first tattoo one day.

"I was 17, on a trip to Belize and tricked my teacher into letting me get tattooed. My mom was pissed."

[kelliejmoore]

On the bright side, it is now more likely than ever that your daughter is going to get a panther tattoo, so it's not all bad.

Fantastic

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[blackdots]

Am I the only one that doesn't think this is that bad? I wanna preface this by saying that I also don't have kids.

When I was a kid, I got a couple shitty tattoos (including a couple by myself), I think that's just how teenagers are. I think many of us have been there before. If anything, it weirds me out when people ONLY have nice, clean looking tattoos and no shitty ones. People doing a bunch of research from the beginning and planning out their tattoos is just so much different than how I went about it. The biggest thing to worry about is transmission of diseases, so that's an important point. But at least the shop isn't a scratcher's kitchen and looks professional (although lower quality of tattoos).

Also, I honestly don't think that tattoo is that bad.

[RoryQ]

I also don't think it's THAT bad. It's also very cover-able.

That said:-

The fact that the teacher offered to pay to have it 'fixed' suggests to me he knows he screwed up. I find it a little odd that he went with them to the shop when they got these tattoos ... and I second noting that it looks like it's in a fairly intimate spot? Was the teacher hanging around? Creepy if so. Overall, really poor judgment - legal or not.

If my kid was 18 I would tell him he was an idiot, but at that age I think it's pretty much adulthood: Big boy rules.

If he was 17 or younger, yeah, it's a little arbitrary, but I'd be considering taking it further with that teacher's school.