The Lincoln Log

Everyone has a unique way of expressing their individuality and body art is one of the most versatile methods.

Tattoos and piercings have become so popular that you can’t even walk the streets of San Francisco without seeing them. They are decorations for the body and a form of self-expression in which you can display your personality to the public.

“I felt it would exemplify me; it would just be me. I mean a lot of people have lip piercings so it’s nothing very special. I just thought that it seemed right for me,” senior Nicholas Tichy said of his lip piercing.

Although tattoos and piercings are a great form of self-expression, many teenagers have gotten them under pressure, or simply because their friends had them, and they wanted to be “cool.” Doing so causes you to lose your individuality, and the tattoo or piercing you just got is no longer a form of self-expression.

Some popular tattoos include Chinese characters, dragons, roses and hearts.

“I have three tattoos. A moon on my midriff, the word ‘twin’ in Chinese because I have a twin, and another tattoo on my arm,” English teacher Sarah Falls said. For piercings, most people prefer it on their ears or belly button.

“I got all my piercings in 7th grade. When I was 12 years old, I had twelve piercings and when I was 13, I had thirteen piercings,” junior May Li said, when asked about her thirteen ear piercings.

Piercings and tattoos require a lot of attention the first few weeks you have them. Without proper care, an infection might occur or the color might fade from the tattoo. New tattoos should be bandaged for at least an hour and rinsed with antibacterial soap. Salt water, chlorine and sunlight should be avoided because they can cause the color to fade. Piercings have to be cleaned with rubbing alcohol or a saline solution.

“I had to clean out my lip piercing with a saline solution for the first six weeks,” Tichy said.

People who are planning to get any piercings or tattoos should choose the store wisely. Non-sterile needles used for tattoos or piercings may lead to the transmission of diseases such as hepatitis, tuberculosis and possibly HIV. Some people may even have allergic reactions to the ink used for tattoos, so paying a visit to the doctor before hand is strongly advised.

Asides from diseases, there are many teenagers’ parents who disapprove of tattoos and piercings.

“It’s stupid how people are carving drawings into themselves and the needle that people use to inscribe tattoos may be unsterilized. It is also stupid how people pierce their body parts to put objects where they don’t belong and it might be unhygienic too,” Yani Tan, mother of junior Anthony Radianto, said.

Although teachers aren’t exactly constricted to cover up their tattoos, they usually choose to.

“I’m not going to show off the tattoo on my midriff but if students ask, I would show them the tattoo on my arm (if it’s not during class time),” Falls said.

Student teacher Julie Ahern also does the same. “No one makes me cover my tattoos but I cover up because I want to be more professional and not be a distraction to the students,” Ahern said.

Aside from schools requiring faculty to cover up piercings and tattoos, many businesses require their employees to look more professional. “I had to take off my nose piercing or wear a nude piercing for my job. I haven’t really been discriminated against because of it though,” senior Cece Washington said. “Some customers actually started conversations because they thought it was interesting.”

Whether it’s a tattoo or piercing, don’t do it to follow the crowd, but make it your own personal form of self-expression.