It is a way to express themselves..my son was into piercings. Is he a freak show...hmmm, no I actually think he is a fine young man that any young lady would be lucky to have BUT to late, he is taken!! SO MY FREAK SHOW OF A SON THAT DOES NO DRUGS, WENT TO COLLEGE FOR COMPUTERS HAS PIERCINGS...OMG WHAT A HORRIBLE MOTHER I AM!!
I would rather have my son express himself through piercings instead of going and shooting up a bunch of people. It is a form of art, just like tat's are to some people.
I SAY IF YOU LIKE IT..DO IT AND WHO CARES WHAT ANYONE ELSE THINKS!!

Oh, so this is not a form of ridicule or taunting then?



My bad. I totally misunderstood that.

I totally believe you that she would have been looked at strangely probably and possibly avoided or talked about unkindly by many, but carted off for evaluation? Seems a pretty cruel thing to link facial jewelry to mental problems. Furthermore you made several very broad sweeping statements on anyone with more than just simple pierced ears that pretty much lumps her in the same pot with everybody else.



Not specifically no, which is why I said "sort of" since I was unsure what you were insinuating there or where you were going with it. If there is no link or similarity there though, why bring it up then to begin with? Maybe you don't feel that way, but when you post a thread about what you think is wrong with people into the things you don't like, and then name drop pedophiles at the end of it, don't get butthurt because someone wondered why you seemed to be linking them in the same thread in some form.



Read away. Your my example. If it were the norm, you would not have made the thread. Furthermore, I have made no one sound full of intolerance or bigotry save your meandering statements which they were. Normal is in the mind of whoever is answering the question being asked it, I think that is pretty well understood by all by now. To me it is all a form of expressionism I can get behind that does not bother me at all. Yeah, there is some stuff out there I find unusual and weird sometimes I don't see very often, but no problem... I can get behind that to as a form of expressionism as long as it is not hurting anyone else or endangering their well being. Just because it is strange to me, does not lower my opinion of those interested in it.



Who cares what I think? There is an entire country with a pretty strong opinion of it already, it is why the vast majority of jobs don't allow it (at least not visibly). Granted, there are a lot of places where you can see a person inked up or pierced out and they don't get a second look, but it is hardly universal. And of course there is no middle ground,.. you either approve or you don't.

I approve of it. It is pretty simple.

OK, This thread has gone in a direction that it wasn't intended to go. At least not by me. I've got two young boys myself. One that is 12 and one that is 16. So far,so good with both of them. I see,and have seen a lot of stuff that goes on with the young of today. You name it, I've seen it. It's just part of being an X cop.You get to see a LOT of bad.

Because of a medical condition, I'm no longer a police officer. But, I never will forget all those, "I'll just call them "things" I saw. The great majority of the young and messed up that I and others like me had to deal with,Were usually either pierced in places I would rather not say,Or tatted in places I would rather not say. Most all of them came from broken homes where the mother didn't care what their kids were doing as long as they were not bothering them. Some mothers did most if not all the parenting.

I and my X have been divorced since my oldest was 2. I've tried my best to be a dad to him. But still,I worry. I'm not there 24/7 to guide them along and try to keep them on the straight side. So, I try to understand what makes these kids do what they do. Maybe if I understand I can head them off before they make a mistake they might regret later.

That's really what this thread was started for. I was attempting to try to gain some understanding that might help me later down the road with my boys.

It's been a little over a year since I had to retire. Right around that time I was taking police sponsored seminars on why these kids do what they do. I didn't even get good started till I had to pull out. So, Curiosity is still there. Unanswered. And all I have to go by is what I saw on the job. 100% of them came from broken homes. 100% of them did it because they felt no one gave a damn.

They were most times uncared for and left to raise themselves. Those who did at least have one parent,usually the mother,she was to busy trying to keep food in their mouths and clothes on their backs. They usually had no idea what kind of friends their kids had. Their friends really had more influence on them than the parent. Which got them into trouble.

This is all I know. All I have to go by. I do know their is more to it. I guess I thought that maybe another parent or parents would see this thread and give me,A father that loves his kids,Some insight on how they kept their son or daughter away from those influences.

Maybe I started this thread off wrong. I apologize if I did. Maybe I should have thought about it a little longer and phrased things a little different. But, Either way, It's not about what I like or dislike. It's about the kids.

One last thing, You have to remember, I'm 51. I come from a time where such as this was never seen. If someone did this then, Yes, They might wind up being carted off to the looney bin. People would have thought something was mentally wrong with this person.

People have piercings and tattoos to make a statement, to show the groups of people that interest them that they are like minded. But not only that, from this pic alone, you can tell she is fun and interesting and not bothered what people who don't matter to her think.
Please tell me, what's fun and interesting about you, I certainly can't SEE anything and whilst reading your opinions about people who are different to you, I really can't find any signs of fun. Everyone has a right to an opinion but it can make them look very silly at times.

No piercings, or tattoos...Has to be a good guy.



Now there's a good country boy, no ink or piercings...I'd give that boy a lift for sure.



Same here, this guy was both active in the Boy Scouts and his local church.



You would almost mistake this one as an attorney if you didn't know any better.

Since we were using pictures and all, I figured we should have a good comparison.

Ehhhh.......to each their own.

Late 80's...I pierced my left cheek and ran a giant hoop through it into my mouth.

It was fun and drew plenty of attention. Getting their attention is the first step to a date.

However, piercings and tats are so common now that I don't bother. Kids and grandmothers have them...its gone from punk rebellious ....to establishment.

If it makes them happy....good for them.

It's really no different than bikers trying to look like lone wolf bad@$$es....yet failing to realize they look like every other biker.

Or the cowboy who looks like every other cowboy.

They are just looking for a niche in society to feel accepted in.

The thought does occur to me....

What if this same girl in the picture posted a photo of the OP on this site just to let it be known that she doesn't approve of the way he looks?

Would he change the way he looks to suit her ideas after a public shaming?

I doubt it.

I agree. And the reason I think this is happening is down to multiculturalism. When Christopher Columbus discovered America he noted how the natives (savages) all had tattoos and piercings.

That's not a metalhead.

This is a metalhead:

Wow. I though this room was about metal head music....lol

Charles, I get that you feel this thread went the wrong way and didn't give you the answers and insights you are seeking.
However, read the comments with an open mind, strip off the bitching and BS and you still do get some insight as to why ppl have tattoos and piercings.

As for your children, understandable you are worried. Esp since you've seen a lot of nasty stuff as a cop. However, you shouldn't let this influence you as a parent too much, even though that will probably be very difficult. Use your experience and knowledge to raise them as best as you can. Use it to your advantage. Because you have this insight, knowledge, you might be able to better guide them through teenage years. And guiding is pretty much all you can do as a parent once your kids reach the age of approx. 13, 14. They do need the opportunity to experience and explore the world themselves. Parents can give them the right frame to do this.
Giving them a solid basis, norms and values is pretty much all you can do.

And bear in mind that most ppl with tattoos, piercings and so on, don't belong in the loony bin. Maybe this was done in the 50s, but this ain't the 50s and maybe they had it wrong in the 50s. Don't look back, esp as a parent you have to deal with the here and now. If you keep looking back ("things weren't like this in the past!") you are bound to scr*w up, mis-communicate with your kids. THEY do NOT live in the past, you see. They live in the here and now.
Look back at your own teenage years. What did you do that was frowned upon by the older generation? Every teenage generation has their own thing. They need to rebel, want to stand out etc. Quite a natural process.
Guide them, use your knowledge, but don't let it make you rigid, as teens and rigid parent don't really work too well. Do give them a frame, a set of rules, but be reasonable, so they can still explore (and rebel at least a bit! --> rebelling is very important phase to become a healthy individual). So try to let them rebel within YOUR frame-set.

And do read the comments again, there really is some good stuff in there as to why ppl get tats, piercings ...

Good luck, remember: parenting is a continuous learning curve!

No reasonable answer here. She has a personal problem, only she knows or maybe she doesn't even know.