This account is of my experiences as part of the British body modification community and how these experiences have made me grow to believe that more should be done to bring in legislation to regulate the practices of piercers and body modification artists. This is not to hold them back or stop them from doing anything, it is to protect people from the majority of piercers who put money before their intended customer. This is not to say that I feel that there are not a lot of good piercers in this country. There are just so many bad ones. Most Claire's Accessories (a shop that sells girls accessories for their hair or jewelry etc) have a seat at the front for small children to have an unsterilised stud gun placed against their earlobe and a stud blasted through using rather more force than finesse. Most hairdressers have the same procedure, it is a cheap way of making a few quid. This may seem ok as it is a given persons choice whether or not they get something done. This is not the responsible way of looking at it though.
At A Glance Author Gregg Bennett Contact Gregg [email protected] IAM Solaris When N/A Location Great Britain I know a piercing studio in Brighton, my hometown, which will not pierce people under the age of 16 unless they have their parents' permission and are accompanied by said parent. They also will not perform something as common as a navel piercing if the child is a lot shorter then either of their parents. The reason for this is that when they have a growth spurt the piercing is likely to stretch along with their skin and they may be left with a piercing a lot longer and more unsightly then was originally intended. I do not know how many other studios do this, but it is this responsibility for those that enter themselves into the piercer's care that makes some studios shine beyond others. This studio I have mentioned but not named (I have not asked permission from the owner and would not want to offend him by doing so, as he may not agree with the content of the BME site) put the evolution of the person beyond that of money. Other studios such as Cold Steel in Camden also have an age limit before they will pierce you (18 years old).
I don't want to hold people back because of their age but I do want them protected because of it. I know very few people who would not welcome laws that protect children. At the moment as far as I am aware the law is pretty lax when it comes to piercing, but tattooing has legislation in place. Tattooists cannot ink under 18's in Britain, but to date I have never once heard of a tattoo studio being investigated by the police or held accountable for underage clients. This seems ridiculous as I know many people who had their first tattoo as young as 15 years old. How is it that we will fine and remove landlord's alcohol licenses and yet the underage drinkers will most likely get very drunk and feel rather rubbish the next day? Someone who gets a tattoo when they are underage IS scarred for life when a tattooist breaks the law. This is not to say that all under 18's cannot make a decision to effect the rest of their lives, but the law is there to protect them and that should be upheld.
As for piercing, the law in Britain is such that you may obtain a license from the local council for a minimal cost which gives you the right to do ear piercing on people for money. No other piercing whatsoever are covered in this. This means that if a piercer in this country is regulated then they do so off their own back or have joined an organization that will regulate them. Very few do so. This probably explains why there are so many more places you can get pierced then tattooed. It is almost becoming a sideline to most businesses. Tattooists, hairdressers etc offer cheap piercing at minimal cost. Very few studios exist where piercing is their only source of income. As the law stands in Britain we have the European nickel directive:
"From the 20th July 2001 it will become illegal to sell to a consumer any product that is made or imported into the European Union after 20th January 2000 and intended to come into direct and prolonged contact with the skin which releases from the parts of these products coming into contact with the skin more than a set limit of Nickel ions. Also banned from these dates those parts of jewellery that are inserted into the human body, or come in contact with the wound, during the time the wound caused by the piercing is healing."
The amount of studios that adhere to this is unknown to me but gold and silver both have high nickel contents and hairdressers and some small shops will still put such things in a fresh piercing. It's breaking the law but unless people make it an issue then nothing will be done about it.
More than anything we need to be fighting for laws in countries to protect those younger than a certain age. This has strayed very far from my own personal experience and strayed too far down the line of a rant, but to gain wider acceptance we have to conform to societies rules, as rubbish as that might be they are there to protect us from each other.