Abuse or Adornment?

[Thorne]

Tayler and I both thank you Thorne and you do raise a point - My reason for doing it was entirely aside from me and I explained it to her why early so she could choose to keep them or not.

I got my ears pierced after long amounts of begging to my step monster - I was given it at Christmas at 13 - the gift was the permission, I had to pay for it and take care of them.

Turns out I'm allergic and had a great swollen red ear - nice for a 13yr old starting Gr. 9 lol. I thought if I did Tayler's early, she would build a natural immunity to it and could choose later to keep them or not.

As it turns out, she has no reaction to them and as she said, has another set and another one single on one ear and is ecstatic that she can wear any cosmetic jewellery that Arden's or Claire's has to offer.

For the record - she's a tomboy but loves buying and trying earrings - that goes to ponder....by my action, have I created a fetish? hehe - I truly don't think so as when I got my navel pierced, the gurl ripped me a new one about safety, dangers and did I really think it all through lol

I'm glad that she's happy with her piercings, and that she's smart enough to worry about Mom!

I'm curious about your reaction, though. What are you allergic to, the piercing tool or the metal of the earring posts? The brief description you gave ("a great swollen red ear") sounds more like an infection to me, especially since you have obviously gotten more piercings.

But it does show that things can go wrong, and a small child, especially, might not be physically capable of handling a massive infection or allergic reaction. At least the mother I saw didn't try to do it herself, but took the kid to a "professional" (a 20-something clerk manning a kiosk in the mall).

so.... to speak to Tayler's post.......do you think you should have been given the choice?
or is it just a matter of your parents did what they hoped is a good decision for you, as did you of yours?
if given the choice, for yourself only; to turn it all back to the day....... would you choose differently?

I honestly don't know the answer to this. As I said, my wife and I were following the advice of the pediatrician, a man we both trusted. My parents were doing the same. I haven't had any need (or desire) to keep up since then so I don't know the current thinking, but if the choice came up now I would probably have to say no. After all, as Tayler said, a baby has a 3-second attention span: he gets over it quickly. As a grown man, I doubt that I would want to place my "manhood" under the knife unless absolutely necessary, medically.

[gemmy]

I'm glad that she's happy with her piercings, and that she's smart enough to worry about Mom!

I'm curious about your reaction, though. What are you allergic to, the piercing tool or the metal of the earring posts? The brief description you gave ("a great swollen red ear") sounds more like an infection to me, especially since you have obviously gotten more piercings.

Yes, it's a reaction to the material, even gold will make my ears flare. I had my navel pierced not even thinking about this sensitivity my ears experience. Turns out I can only wear titanium, or those kinds of metals or my body will react to it.

Even in my accident, when they internally banded my shattered heel with metal, my body rejected it and they had to do another operation to remove what was supposed to be a permanent placement.

My body may not like the intrusions but I love my piercings regardless hehe

[icey]

i hate seeing young kids with piercings,ive actually been criticised for not allowing my children to have theirs pierced until they reach their teens.

so many people i know have their babys and toddlers pierced and i hate that...it causes them pain they have a much higher risk of infection and are also much more likely to end up having an accident and tearing the damn things out!
it amazes me that many piercers will do it in the first place.

what is the point in having very young childrens ears pierced anyway? do they think it makes their kids more attractive? or is it a fashion statement for themselves (putting aside those that do it for religion..though i think that just as wrong too)

one of my pet peeves too

[Thorne]

... they ... have a much higher risk of infection and are also much more likely to end up having an accident and tearing the damn things out!

I hadn't even thought about the accident part. Though it does seem that today's kids are much less active than I remember being. They wouldn't have lasted an hour on my ears once I was allowed outside by myself.

what is the point in having very young childrens ears pierced anyway? do they think it makes their kids more attractive? or is it a fashion statement for themselves (putting aside those that do it for religion..though i think that just as wrong too)

I think it is wrong, too, but at least a religious reason is understandable. Even cultural reasons, truly cultural, as in something that's been going on for as long as people can remember. But as near as I can tell, the vast majority of those who have their kids' ears pierced do it for the same reason that people dress their pets up in bizarre clothing, or they create these elaborate Halloween costumes for kids who can't even walk yet: they think it's cute!