Mother arrested after her 10-year-old son got a tattoo
Topics: US News
Jake Massey
Featured Image Credit: Cultura Creative RF / Image Source / Alamy Stock Photo
Topics: US News
A mother in the US was arrested after her 10-year-old son got a tattoo.
Authorities were made aware of the tattoo after the pupil walked into the nurse's office of his elementary school in Highland, New York, and asked for Vaseline to rub on the tat.
The nurse subsequently called the police and his mum, Crystal Thomas, was arrested.
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The 33-year-old had given permission for neighbour Austin Smith, 20, to do the tattoo, spelling out the boy's name in block letters on his forearm.
In some states in the US there is no minimum age for tattoos, if parents give consent, but in New York people under the age of 18 are prohibited from getting tattoos, with or without parental consent.
Thomas was charged with endangering the welfare of a child.
Thomas told The New York Times that the tattoo stemmed from a misunderstanding.
"No little child should get tattooed," she said.
Dayton Daily News reported that Thomas pled guilty and was sentenced to community service.
Meanwhile, speaking a few days after he was arraigned on charges of dealing unlawfully with a child, tattoo artist Smith told The New York Times: "It's the worst mistake I've made in my life.
"At the time, I thought if you got your parents' permission, you could get a tattoo."
While not allowing a child to get a tattoo may seem like common sense to many of us, that is a fairly modern Western outlook, according to Lars Krutak, a tattoo anthropologist and research associate at the Museum of International Folk Art in Santa Fe, N.M.
"Maybe decolonizing the Western thought concept of 'age-appropriate' tattoos could be enlightening," Krutak said. "But I am not saying that children should be tattooed at 10 and 11 years old, because they still have a lot to learn about the world."
That's the thing with tattoos isn't it, they're permanent, but our opinions and taste can change all the time. For example, our opinion on whether or not we want a Kanye West tattoo.
The rapper has had a fall from grace, and now scores of fans want to get rid of their Ye tats.
One such fan is musician Ashley Smith, from Cardiff, Wales.
The 20-year-old got the phrase 'Which / One', from artwork for Ye's 2016 album The Life of Pablo, inked on his wrist in June; however, he recently shared a TikTok, in which he said he needed 'f***ing laser removal', and he has since decided to have it blacked out.
Speaking to the New York Post, he said: "When I actually saw that he was making these comments about Jewish people, it was just gut-wrenching — this guy was supposed to be like one of my heroes, someone that I aspire to be like in making music and recording music."
He added: "I actually booked a tattoo consultation about covering it up. I couldn't care less about the design, I just want it off my body."
West is currently plummeting down to Earth rapidly, after repeatedly sharing anti-Semitic, unsubstantiated and offensive comments.