I do get hate mail. It is usually claw dragging professional tattoo shop owners who type a form of caveman hater, “you, die, now,” with little further explanation. I expect that these guys have very unhappy partners, or none at all.

However, I recently got an email from a father from Scotland who was pee-oed by a stick and poke tattoo – namely the new one on his 16 year old son. A kit was somehow sold to his son's friend who then gave him the tattoo. I feel his pain. My intention is never to assist in under age tattoos. I take great measures to prevent these kits from being sold to minors. In my online check out, there is a restriction on credit card holders who are under 18. It is also written everywhere, in the sales agreement, and stores that sell my kits must card the buyer. This does not deter some youngsters with $40 to burn and the patience to wait for a package in the mail. With a little thought, I hope you’ll see that these kids are a smarter version of their DIY hand-poking peers – who can easily jump to the task with little help from my kits. I’ll explain.

My kits are marketed to current DIY tattooers who are concerned with their health. Despite this, some people might think that a kit makes people that that stick and poking is a Good Idea For Everyone (GIFE). Like condoms for high schoolers. If they are around, they use them. If not, everyone is celibate (NOT!) Despite my warnings, my pleas for people to be of age, to be sober and all the like, people will go against the label directions and put themselves in harm’s way. In the case of an under age tattooer – the harm is giving oneself a truly regrettable permanent mark that the parent/guardian may or may not have agreed to. The intention of the company that makes the kit is: To provide safer materials for home & DIY tattooing for consenting, sober ADULTS. 

I know that youngsters will find a way to poke themselves. {Insert greek quote here about sticking oneself with ink before the testies have dropped, perhaps in spite of the testies dropping}. Sadly, they will almost guaranteed to grow to hate their first tattoo (and hide it away behind clothing or another tattoo), because as their brain grows, so does better decision-making and the more concrete ‘sense of self’ that solidifies closer to 25 (pre-frontal cortex time). I didn’t get my first tattoo till I was 27! A person should wait awhile & experiment with sharpie tattoos for before breaking the skin. If you are reading this, Kiddo: Don't do it. Wait till you are in your twenties and you have gotten your hormone habit a little bit more under control.

When comparing my kit to a pack of cigarettes, 6 pack of beer, porn or other typical prohibited for minor bounty, it is important to consider what my kit contains:

…basically 2 needles and some ink. Can anyone get these anytime? Yes. Is this a common practice for youth across the globe? Yes. You can’t throw a stone in a middle school without finding a crappy home “tattoo” – done with things found IN a school (and likely poked out in the back row of Detention). Safety pins, sewing needles and pen ink or india ink (art ink) - that’s right folks – this is a really common and easy practice. It is cheap (free). It is a dumb way to waste time for angsty, rebellious, impulsive (or just bored) pre-teens and teens, who don’t consider that their future selves may loathe their past selves for decisions such as body modification.

To the father of the prematurely inked son: I am sorry for your pain. The new tattoo is not my responsibility. The fact that it may have been done safely, however, Is.

Your son, could have found a dirty needle, some pen ink and shared both of these with a few friends. If he read the Kit Instructions, it would have told him about sanitation & prevention of the spread of Blood Borne Pathogens. Yes, he has a tattoo and he (and you) may regret it. The bright side: he did not get porn or drugs in mail. He likely did not contract a disease in the process. And, best of all & rare at this young age: he seems to care about his health.