Should It Be Legal to Pierce Your Infant Child's Ears?

  • kafka.

    kafka. (150)

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    Valencia Laekin:
    I didn't even bother to look at it like that, but you're right. There might be an honest belief in surgery fulfilling some sort of mental issue, but the belief that breast implants will give someone more opportunities in life is completely theoretical without any statistical backing, whereas braces have been proven to correct misalignment and correct things like sleep apnea. Were any social worker or doctor to take a look at a case like that, I'm almost positive they would deny the parents the right to do that to their child.
    I know a lot more people who make their children wear braces because they think a beautiful smile guarantees them more opportunities in life than because they want to prevent sleep apnea.
    February 9th, 2011 at 01:09am
  • Valencia Laekin

    Valencia Laekin (100)

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    Mr W. H.:
    I know a lot more people who make their children wear braces because they think a beautiful smile guarantees them more opportunities in life than because they want to prevent sleep apnea.
    I wouldn't doubt it. Those are probably the hardest circumstances to call anyone out under too. It's easy to hide behind ulterior motives when it comes to something like braces without setting off any alarms. Luckily it's a lot more difficult to hide behind ulterior motives as the procedures get more and more drastic.

    No one's ever going to be able to change every parent's judgement. The best anyone can do is prepare to challenge it. (You'd hope that the people challenging decisions like that would have direct influence over whether or not the surgery/procedure takes place.)
    February 9th, 2011 at 01:28am
  • veronika

    veronika (130)

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    I'm not strictly anti-child piercings, but I'm not for it either. If I had a child I wouldn't pierce it's ears. I don't have pierced ears myself, mainly because - while earrings are pretty - I never got my ears pierced as a child and I find them unnecessary. As an adult I have no inclination to get any piercings (anymore), and I'm glad my parents didn't force it on me.

    I know someone who got their 18 month old's ears pierced, and while I'm not against it, I do have the opinion that it's a bit... naff. Kind of tacky. I understand that for some people it's considered cultural, but even then my opinion doesn't really change.

    In regards to whether it should be legal, I'm undecided. While I sort of look down on it, I don't know if it should be legal or illegal. At the moment.
    February 9th, 2011 at 08:15am
  • thalida.

    thalida. (320)

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    I got my ears pierced as a baby, and really I'm happy my mom did that.
    I believe the hospital I was born in has, a place that also does piercings for babies once they get to a certain age.
    February 9th, 2011 at 04:52pm
  • folie a dru.

    folie a dru. (1270)

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    ^
    I didn't have mine pierced as a baby and I'm really glad my mom did that.
    February 9th, 2011 at 05:59pm
  • sunflowers.

    sunflowers. (300)

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    dru is by your side.:
    ^
    I didn't have mine pierced as a baby and I'm really glad my mom did that.
    Do you think that if she had pierced them though, you'd be particularly upset or angry? I'm assuming you've got your ears pierced now, so in a way, didn't she just save you the trouble?
    February 9th, 2011 at 06:14pm
  • Jewel Nicole

    Jewel Nicole (100)

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    My ears were pierced as a baby, I'm glad they were too. Even if I didn't want them pierced today, I wouldn't have cared that they were pierced when I was an infant, it wouldn't have bothered me.
    February 9th, 2011 at 06:25pm
  • folie a dru.

    folie a dru. (1270)

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    sunflowers.:
    Do you think that if she had pierced them though, you'd be particularly upset or angry? I'm assuming you've got your ears pierced now, so in a way, didn't she just save you the trouble?
    I'm glad I was able to make the choice for myself. And something could have gone very wrong if she had pierced them when I was an infant and then I would be extremely pissed. I mean, when I got my ears pierced as a child (third grade, I think), I actually ended up having complications. I managed to complete rip one out of my ear.
    February 9th, 2011 at 06:35pm
  • sunflowers.

    sunflowers. (300)

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    dru is by your side.:
    I'm glad I was able to make the choice for myself. And something could have gone very wrong if she had pierced them when I was an infant and then I would be extremely pissed. I mean, when I got my ears pierced as a child (third grade, I think), I actually ended up having complications. I managed to complete rip one out of my ear.
    I dunno, but then seems like being annoyed for the sake of being annoyed?
    If I hadn't wanted earrings, then I might have been a bit irritated (but considering they close up to leave a teeny spot on your ear I doubt I'd have cared).
    But if it turns out you do want earrings, which many girls do, then it's no harm done?

    Also, earrings ripping out your ear can happen at any age? Or are you saying that you'd be pissed if happened as a baby when you hadn't even asked for earrings?
    February 9th, 2011 at 06:57pm
  • folie a dru.

    folie a dru. (1270)

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    sunflowers.:
    I dunno, but then seems like being annoyed for the sake of being annoyed?
    Let's say I'm considering breast implants and my boyfriend tells me I'd look better with breast implants. Same concept, but I would feel like someone was telling me that I didn't look good without the earrings, even from birth. I don't want someone to decide how to permanently make me prettier as an infant. I think it's rude and mean.
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    Also, earrings ripping out your ear can happen at any age? Or are you saying that you'd be pissed if happened as a baby when you hadn't even asked for earrings?
    Yes, I would have. I also would have been pissed if someone it had gotten all fucked up and I'd gotten paralyzed or it had been infected and disfigured my ear, which could happen.
    February 9th, 2011 at 08:21pm
  • sunflowers.

    sunflowers. (300)

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    dru is by your side.:
    Let's say I'm considering breast implants and my boyfriend tells me I'd look better with breast implants. Same concept, but I would feel like someone was telling me that I didn't look good without the earrings, even from birth. I don't want someone to decide how to permanently make me prettier as an infant. I think it's rude and mean.

    Yes, I would have. I also would have been pissed if someone it had gotten all fucked up and I'd gotten paralyzed or it had been infected and disfigured my ear, which could happen.
    Personally I don't get that. When I want a haircut, (or if I was getting breast implants) if anything I'd find my boyfriend telling me that encouraging. What exactly would you want them to say?

    I don't think I've ever met anyone who's assumed that their parents thought they'd be ugly without their ears pierced. Your mum probably chose your haircuts and your clothes when you were very young? My mum gave me a bowl cut till the age of 7 and dressed me in dungarees. I didn't then worry that she thought I looked uglier when I had long hair and dressed in skirts...
    February 9th, 2011 at 09:26pm
  • Xsoteria

    Xsoteria (100)

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    I don't think it should be illegal, but I don't really agree with the practice. On principle, I don't think parents should be allowed to make permanent physical alternations, purely in the cosmetic purposes. Ear piercing however, isn't exactly a notable alternation and can be kind of reversed if the hole closes up. It has about as much influence as a hair style - which parents often control with their children.
    February 9th, 2011 at 09:26pm
  • kafka.

    kafka. (150)

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    dru is by your side.:
    I'm glad I was able to make the choice for myself. And something could have gone very wrong if she had pierced them when I was an infant and then I would be extremely pissed. I mean, when I got my ears pierced as a child (third grade, I think), I actually ended up having complications. I managed to complete rip one out of my ear.
    I doubt a young child would have the strength to rip out an earring find from their ear. They also don't dress themselves so there wouldn't be any danger of the earrings getting caught into clothes. If you buy hypoallergenic earrings the risk of infection is minimal.
    Tbh, I got sick a lot when I was a kid, but it never crossed my mind to be extremely pissed at my parents for it. It's not like the meant for me to get sick.
    February 9th, 2011 at 09:40pm
  • folie a dru.

    folie a dru. (1270)

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    sunflowers.:
    Personally I don't get that. When I want a haircut, (or if I was getting breast implants) if anything I'd find my boyfriend telling me that encouraging. What exactly would you want them to say?
    I mean if I never mentioned wanting implants and my boyfriend was all 'you'd look better with bigger boobs'. It's rather insulting.
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    I don't think I've ever met anyone who's assumed that their parents thought they'd be ugly without their ears pierced. Your mum probably chose your haircuts and your clothes when you were very young?
    Who's mom didn't? However there's a difference between putting on an outfit and piercing one's ears. You don't need adult consent to get dressed or cut your hair.
    Mr W. H.:
    I doubt a young child would have the strength to rip out an earring find from their ear.
    That's not how it happened. I played with the earring, which a young child would probably do and then I put it in one day and suddenly my ear was ripped.

    ---

    If the child is old enough to say 'no' it's probably not legal, is it? Therefor I think doing it when the child is too young to agree is sort of just exploiting the fact that a child can't speak.
    February 9th, 2011 at 09:43pm
  • wxyz

    wxyz (240)

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    I think it should be a choice thing. If the kid gets to, say, five, and wants an ear piercing, then as long as it's legal in whatever country they're in, fair enough. If the child hasn't chosen to, then I don't think it's right to make that choice for them. It's not like a medical procedure against their will that would actually benefit them. It's an accessory; it's not necessary.
    February 9th, 2011 at 10:33pm
  • kafka.

    kafka. (150)

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    dru is by your side.:
    That's not how it happened. I played with the earring, which a young child would probably do and then I put it in one day and suddenly my ear was ripped.
    Flesh doesn't just suddenly rip. Most children under 9 months don't play with elaborate toys yet and until 7 months they have a very weak grip, I doubt they'd be able to pull at their earrings enough to hurt themselves. Most parents buy tiny earrings which close at the back so that they don't feel uncomfortably heavy, but at the same time the child can't take them off and run the danger of swallowing them.
    February 9th, 2011 at 11:04pm
  • folie a dru.

    folie a dru. (1270)

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    Mr W. H.:
    Flesh doesn't just suddenly rip. Most children under 9 months don't play with elaborate toys yet and until 7 months they have a very weak grip, I doubt they'd be able to pull at their earrings enough to hurt themselves. Most parents buy tiny earrings which close at the back so that they don't feel uncomfortably heavy, but at the same time the child can't take them off and run the danger of swallowing them.
    I'm still against it.

    And I don't know how else to describe what happened to my ear. I never noticed the hole growing larger, but I was nine so I don't know. It was a long time ago.
    February 10th, 2011 at 12:16am
  • Katelyn23

    Katelyn23 (200)

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    I think it is the parent's choice. I've had mine pierced since I was two, like several other people I know, and I'm extremely grateful that my mom got them done.

    I am 1,000% against anyone having a say about what a parent can or cannot do to their children when it comes to appearance. And yes, the child may not want the piercing when they get older and it could take a while to close up. But what is the difference between that and a really bad hair cut? Lets say a mother keeps her daughter's hair so short that it doesn't go past her ears. Well when the child gets older how long will it take to grow the hair out to her shoulders or so? A few years. What is the real difference there?
    February 15th, 2011 at 04:05am
  • lovecraft

    lovecraft (100)

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    ^Hair will always grow back. Hair can't get infected. Hair is dead cells.

    A bad haircut is completely different from a bad piercing. A bad haircut can't kill you.
    (And yes, bad piercings can kill you, if untreated. Like most things.)
    February 15th, 2011 at 04:20am
  • Katelyn23

    Katelyn23 (200)

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    With proper care most piercings don't get infected, unless the body tries to reject it and even then it can be treated easily. Anyway the infections can be caught early and treated before they even cause pain. I should know because my skin has tried to reject my second and third piercings several times through infection and nothing bad has happened.

    Death from an infection is a different subject. If a parent cannot take care of a simple ear piercing then chances are they are neglecting their children in other areas. Translated, if the infection gets bad enough to cause death the parent will be charged with abuse.
    February 15th, 2011 at 04:27am