Tattoos for Teens & Preteens


Best place (on body) for a teen to get a tattoo

April 2014

Hi. My son has gone through a major life-altering experience that he would like commemorated with a tattoo. Thing is, he's in 8th grade. We checked and 14 year olds can get a tattoo in Arizona with parental permission, so we're thinking road trip this summer. I'm on board with him getting something tasteful (!) that will be hidden by business clothes (in case that matters in his future), but we would like the body location to be somewhere it won't stretch in a weird way as he matures. His first choice location is the upper outer arm, above the short sleeve line.

Our questions: what parts of the body would a tattoo be least affected as a person gets bigger, and what's the pain factor of your suggestion.

(And, if any of you has recs for a quality tattoo parlor in Arizona, that would be awesome as well.)

Any other advice?

Thanks!
Tattooless AND Clueless


I got my first tattoo at 16 thanks to some friends and some ink in their bedroom - once I was legal I had it covered and continued to get tattoos from there - today I have had 4 done at various times over 20 years.

I love my ink, and totally don't regret doing it - but your child is too young now. Because I ultimately made the decision at 18 these are my choices and something I picked as an ''adult.'' Whatever transition has occurred will still be true in 4 years, take that time to process and decide - and then go to great shop in the area of which there are many (safe, clean, experienced). wait on the ink

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