The amplifier., March 01, 2009, Page 6, Image 6

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Forum
Oregon law makes tattoos illegal for under
18 age teens—even with parental consent
C arly H alverson
Staff Reporter
Teens under the age of 18
do not have the option in
O regon of obtaining a tattoo
legally even if their parents
approve. D o esn 't it seem a
bit silly that w hen parents
give their child perm ission
to b e tattooed, the law w ill
not allow it?
The fact that perm anent
ink and needles are used
should not be the reason
older teens are denied
access to safe, legal
tattooing. W ouldn't it be
better to have teenagers
attain tattoos from
experienced tattoo artists
rather than unlicensed or
inexperienced am ateurs?
There are teenagers w ho
have tattoos bein g done
u nprofessionally and
u nsafely becau se m any
teens w ho have such a
strong desire to have a
tattoo see no other option.
The requirem ents for
tattoo artists in O regon
show that artists go
through a form al process to
d em onstrate that they know
w hat they're doing. A rtists
have to b e 18 or older w ith
a h igh school diplom a or
a (G ED ). T h e y m u s t tak e
3 6 0 h o u rs o f tra in in g fro m
a career school licensed by
the O regon D epartm ent of
Education. Professionals
m oving to O regon from
another state m ay try to
apply if they have tw o years
of full tim e, docum ented
experience. Even w ith all
of those requirem ents,
15 hours of education is
decision of the parents and
the teen— not the law.
Tattoos can be
rem oved. Laser surgery,
derm abrasion, and surgical
excision are three different
w ays to rem ove them
according to the A m erican
Jordyn Warrington, senior, bares her tattoo, which means "God most high" in Hebrew during a shoot for
a friend’s photo project. Warrington had her tattooing performed in Canada three years ago.
Photo by Hillary Obye
required every three years
to continue having an
O regon License.
Tattoos are a unique
w ay for people to express
them selves. Som e people
use tattoos as a w ay to
Homework causes major stress,
teachers unaware of workload?
ffSiliil
14 !»
continued from page 4
Many students find certain
classes to be more rigorous
to represent som ething
and to require more time, and
that is im portant to them
so students that receive what
w ith a visual sym bol. O ne
their teachers think to be an
objection is that a tattoo is a
p erm anent part of the body; , hour worth of homework may
take longer for students who
how ever, that should b e the
ch ro n icle m ilesto n es, o r
continuously struggle with
these classes.
Students need more rest,
and they need to be able to
relax. I recently stayed home
from school due to sleep
deprivation for several weeks
on end to the point where my
body couldn't take it any more.
Tanners take warning! Cancer may be dead ahead
inconceivable to me that
som e w ould voluntarily
pay for such exposures,"
M ontgom ery said. •
Teens are at greater
risk because they are still
experiencing growth at
the cellular level, and, like
other cells in the body, the
Society for D erm atologic
Surgery. Yes, the idea of
getting a tattoo is that it
w ill be perm anent, bu t the
fact that it can be rem oved
is another reason w hy it
should be okay for under 18
teens w ho w ant tattoos to
do so w ith parental consent.
Prices for tattoo rem oval
ranges from $100 to $1000,
and it can be painful,'but
that's a price som e people
are w illing to pay.
I feel that reducing the
age lim it to 15 w ith parental
consent is reasonable
w ith parents actually
accom panying their teen
to the tattoo parlor. We
m ay not b e legal "adults,"
how ever, everyone should
have the right to choose
w hat they do w ith their
ow n body. H aving parental
consent and even parental
presence w hile the tattoo is
being created is only right
and should be acceptable
under O regon law.
Am anda K. M cCullough,
D epartm ent of M olecular &
continued from page 5
M edical Genetics, at OHSU
In the younger years,
said.
skin is vulnerable since
The need for people to
young children are still
be tan is som ething that
grow ing and developing.
has been em bedded in their
"M ost parents seem
minds as the w ay people
to be concerned about
should look all year long.
reducing sun exposure
There has
w hen children are small.
been concern
I believe that it is ju st as
over the
im portant to continue to
past several
m odel and educate our
years that
teens about UV exposure
people, and
risks and reduction
in particular
practices" M ontgom ery
teenagers,
said. '
are using
According to the
sunbeds
A m erican Academ y
excessively to
of Dermatology, 70%
acquire tans
of indoor tanners are
in the hopes
fem ale, prim arily 16 to 29
of becom ing
years old, an age group
more socially
that's particularly at
desirable.
risk for developing skin
M ost teens,
cancer. People should
even though
not get the w rong idea,
they know
getting some sun once
the risks,
in a w hile is a healthy
are willing
aspect of life.
to take the
"There are
chances,
unavoidable adverse
A typical tanning bed located at Islands Tanning and Nails at West Linn Central Village. w hich is
exposures to m any
Artificial tanning beds and other products have been used for many years and the concern dangerous in
for health risks are growing as statistics show that tanning artificially can greatly increase ^ se}f
things that we receive
one’s risk of cancer.
Photo by Jessica Broberg
in our lifetime. It is •
skin cells are dividing more
rapidly than they do during
adulthood.
"W hat is needed is a
cultural shift away from
the belief that tan is pretty.
There have been studies that
show that teens are aware of
the risks but do it anyway,"
The workload that students are
being required to finish is out
of hand.
"I think most of the time
students fall behind because
they either procrastinate,
don't use there class time
efficiently, or do not ask the
right questions when I'm going
over the homework" Tana
Dearborn, Chemistry teacher,
said.
Although this is true,
sometimes teachers may forget
that students have five other
classes besides their own, and
therefore don't realize that
eventually the homework adds
up. It is too difficult for most
students to be asked to finish
all their homework, participate
in sports or other activities,
stay awake during class, and
be fully rested the next day,
ready to function at a high
level. This is a never-ending
cycle for some students and it
needs to be broken. Homework
loads affect all students on
sports teams, students who
struggle in school, students
who have jobs, students who
have AP and honors classes.
This affects ALL students, not
only the procrastinators.
"I can’t change my workload
for one student who decided
to take multiple AP classes. If
students are having trouble or
are falling behind they should
come in before or after school
and get extra help," Dearborn
said. Teachers should also talk
to their students about the
length of time it took them to
complete their assignments
and plan the homework load
according to the ability of th e ^
students.
w