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Piercing at 16? Piercing jewelery in adolescents

Teenage boy with ear piercings

Photo: AmrThele/pixabay.com

Many teenagers and young people have a great desire to decorate their body with a piercing. However, most of them can hardly get their parents excited about the project - the popular body jewelry is often strictly forbidden to them. 

However, there are definitely better ways to deal with the child's desire for a piercing. Parents should be especially comprehensive about Piercings and review the related laws and regulations before making a decision about whether or not to allow their children to have piercings. 

The youth: natural testing of one's own limits

It's natural for adolescents, whether they're boys or girls, to feel the urge to test their limits and push them to the max. For example, there are regular negotiations with the parents about new times when they have to be at home, or about a style of clothing that needs getting used to. It is therefore almost part of everyday life with teenagers that disputes break out within the family about values ​​and ideas about life. 

A piercing is often particularly appealing to young people, as it still stands to some extent as a symbol of rebellion and independence. You can therefore hardly wait to finally equip yourself with such body jewelry. 

No requirements of the Youth Protection Act

However, it cannot be neglected that the stabbing of a piercing is always a willful bodily harm. However, the Youth Protection Act in Germany does not contain any clear regulations as to the age at which children or young people can make a free decision in this context. 

However, reputable piercing studios are characterized in each case by the fact that they only carry out an intervention if the person clearly agrees. As soon as they come of age, every young person can of course decide freely whether they want to get a piercing. However, the correct legal route for teenagers under the age of 18 is usually always through their parents. It is therefore up to them, through their legal guardianship, to decide whether or not to allow piercing for their children. 

No piercing under the age of 14

But even if the parents should agree, professional piercers usually do not do piercings on girls and boys who are younger than 14 years old. If the piercing studios are members of the German Society for Piercing, DGP for short, all interventions on children under the age of 14 are strictly rejected anyway. 

The reason for this is that it is assumed that children at this young age are not yet able to make a comprehensive assessment of the decision, including the possible consequences. The same reason is also responsible for the fact that they are not yet considered criminally responsible. 

The reason why children under the age of 14 are generally not pierced is to protect their health – even if the parents give their consent to the piercing: protecting health is given higher priority than the right to free personal development. 

Ages between 14 and 16 – Is a piercing possible?

Once they turn 14, however, youngsters may want to talk to their legal guardians and find out if they are open to the idea of ​​a piercing. The most important thing for most fathers and mothers is the part of the body where the piercing should be done. smaller Nose Stud or Stud are generally approved more often than piercings in the intimate area or in the tongue. 

If the parents give their consent for the piercing, young people between the ages of 14 and 16 can basically get a piercing. In this case, however, the condition must be met that the children are accompanied by their parents to the piercing studio and that they also remain on site during the procedure. The piercer has no doubts as to whether the parents agree to their children being pierced and need not fear any legal consequences as a result of the procedure carried out. 

Written declaration of consent from the age of 16

Young people who are at least 16 years old are not yet considered adults, but they can already look forward to greater freedom in many areas of their lives. This can be attributed to the fact that more space should be created for the intellectual development of young people. 

This also has an impact on the regulations regarding piercing: Most piercing studios only require 16 and 17-year-olds to provide a written declaration of consent for the piercing, which is signed by a parent or legal guardian. In addition, however, a copy of the signing person's ID card is usually also required for comparison. 

In this regard, it is also important to mention that the consent of both parents is required if the piercer is a member of the aforementioned professional association DGP - but single parents are an exception to this. 

However, if the piercer has doubts about parental consent or its authenticity, he has the right to refuse the piercing. He does not have to provide any justification, because the decision as to whether he serves his customers is entirely up to him. Therefore, there are also piercing studios that generally do not pierce minors. However, there are exceptions in some cases between the ages of 16 and 18 if the parents are personally present at the procedure. 

Why parents shouldn't outright ban piercings

Even today there are still some parents who fundamentally reject piercing in their offspring. They don't even get involved in a discussion about the desired body jewelry for their child. Of course, this is generally your right, but it can also have negative consequences that are not negligible. 

These can consist, for example, in the children independently looking for a dubious piercing studio. Unfortunately, there are also black sheep in the industry who pierce minors without wanting to see parental consent. The parents then have the option of taking legal action against the piercer, but the piercing has already been done. 

It should also not be neglected that the risk to the children's health is significantly higher if they secretly get their piercing done in a dubious studio. After all, the probability is high that the hygiene at these service providers is not necessarily good either. This increases the risk that the Piercing inflamed after being stabbed.  

Have a constructive conversation about piercings

The families themselves are responsible for entering into a constructive dialogue with their offspring about piercing, as the German Youth Protection Act does not provide any clear guidelines on this. It is important that the parents are completely sure that the development of their offspring is so far advanced that they can comprehensively assess and assess the possible consequences of the piercing. 

An important point in the conversation is that different types of inflammation can be caused by a piercing. In some cases, this is not only accompanied by severe pain, but possibly also with even more serious consequences, such as a hepatitis infection. In addition, however, other possible complications in connection with body jewelry on specific body regions should also be discussed, such as eye injuries due to eyelid piercings, scars on the milk ducts due to nipple or breast enlargement. Nipple piercings, speech disorders Tongue piercings or damaged nerves from genital piercings. 

It makes sense for parents to ask their child to provide a factual explanation as to why they feel such a strong desire for a piercing. You should also be aware of the location and size of the piercing. In the course of such a conversation, compromises can usually be found with which both sides are satisfied.

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