Turning 18 can be a big deal to most teens. You’re finally an adult, you can buy lottery tickets, and you can get a tattoo. Some see it as a coming of age gift to themselves and others see it as a way to rebel against their parents. According to https://www.statista.com as of 2017 31% of people aged between 18-29 have at least one tattoo, 30% have 2-3 tattoos, 17% have 4-5, 15% have 6-10, 5% have 11-20, and 2% have 20 or more. These statistics prove to be true here at Fair Grove High School because more and more students have tattoos. 

Fair Grove senior (12), Hale Beckley, has a tattoo on the inside of his arm in honor to his mom. Hale has an old school, sailor style heart tattoo with and a banner through the middle saying ‘MOM’. “My tattoo represents two things, me and my mom have a really good relationship and she has helped me a lot in life. It also represents the fact that I’m kind of old school because the style is an old sailor tattoo.” He’s always wanted a tattoo because he thinks they look cool and wanted to express himself through something permanent. His mom, Stacy Beckley, decided to let him get his tattoo over the summer so it had time to heal properly. 

Another Fair Grove Senior (12), Kaitlyn King, has two tattoos in a more unconventional but not uncommon method of Stick and Poke which is normally a DIY type of tattoo using a sharp object and ink to poke a design into their skin. She has a chinese symbol on her ankle and a semicolon on the inside of her finger; the chinese symbol stands for beauty and the semicolon is a symbol of choosing not to end your life but to carry on and not end your story. Kaitlyn said, “In all honesty, I got the tattoo when I was going through a tough time and when I was self harming I was tired and wanted to stop self harming. I have always been really self-concious of my body and so I wanted something to remind me that I am beautiful even if I don’t feel like I am.” She has plans to get more tattoos in the future, “I get lost in my thoughts a lot, so to have something constantly available to look at wherever I am to reassure me that ‘it’s okay’ would be good for me. I also want to cover up my self harm scars because it was a rough time for me and I want to cover it up with something to remind me that I made it through and I’ll be okay.”