Piercer Refuses To Pierce 2-Week-Old Baby, Sparks Debate Online
Many little girls see their favorite idols or characters wearing beautiful jewelry and want to be just like them. They want the gold necklace, the glittery tiara, and perhaps most detrimentally of all, the pearl earrings. There are solutions for this, such as clip-ons or sticky gems, but what if they're insistent about it?
Or, what if they're not? What if it's their parent who is dead set on their little girl having her ears pierced? What's the right age for it? When is it old enough to be acceptable?
When a professional piercer started this discussion after facing an absurd request from a parent, plenty of others joined in sharing their thoughts on the matter.
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Making Changes
Over the decades, many parents have opted to get their children's ears pierced at very, very young ages. Some believe it's best to do it when they're young as they won't remember the pain or annoyance of healing a piercing, while others may do it for cultural reasons.
Still, in more recent years, there's been a significant amount of backlash to the idea of getting a baby's ears pierced for any reason, as more people settle on the opinion that making any sort of modifications to a person's body before they're fully able to consent to it is strange.
One Piercer's Experience
This isn't just the opinion of other parents, but of piercers as well. When one piercer in the UK spoke out about an interaction he had with a customer regarding piercing a child's ears, people rallied behind them in support even though the customer was not at all pleased.
The piercer, Adam Price, made a TikTok recounting the interaction. The video begins with a forward, "An actual conversation I've had with a customer just this week," before diving into the story.
A Shocking Answer
The interaction begins with the customer walking into the store and asking if they do piercings, which Price confirms. They then ask if he'll pierce their baby's ears, so Price asks how old the baby is.
The customer answers. Their baby is only two weeks old.
Price then takes a moment to think. The on-screen text reads, "Me: focusing heavily on not letting my inside voice pop off, [exuding] expletives I never [realized] I knew."
No, Thanks
He then continues with what he calls his "actual answer," which is simply, "No, sorry. We wouldn't pierce your baby's ears at two weeks old."
The customer then asks how old their baby has to be before Price would consider piercing them.
Price explains that the shop really only pierces people over the age of eight, stating that it's a case of informed consent. He notes that he says all this while "staying calm and collected."
Checking In
"You're going to have to have a conversation with your kid to find out if that's something they want to go through with, whether they're comfortable with having [their ears] pierced, and y'know, us using needles for that type of procedure," he explained.
The parent then assured Price that their baby is "fine with needles."
Price, now behind some text that says he's "really fighting the demons inside of me," put his foot down. "They're two weeks old."
The parent then asks again if he'll do the piercing and he repeats himself, no.
Here's Why
Price has received quite a bit of attention after this video, and his take, spread around online.
In an interview with Bored Panda, he explained his reasoning for why he and his shop, where he is both a manager and senior piercer, will only pierce children eight and up.
"This is because we personally feel that at this age, a child has an improved appreciation for what the procedure entails and the importance of taking care of their piercings also. We generally find that children under this age have a greater risk of accidental damage, infection and other issues where piercings are concerned."
Just Too Young
He then explained his concerns about piercing children younger than that, especially babies.
"Even as babies the ears can be accidentally touched, messed with, or exposed to other risks, ie. jewellery damaging the earlobes, the piercing growing indifferently to the rest of the lobe with age. Not to mention that it's of a general concern of course, babies or young children are not necessarily able to give proper informed consent, to the use of needles and piercings made, for cosmetic/vanity purposes. At such a young age they do not fully grasp the reality of such a procedure."
Some Parents Don't Mind
The comments of the original TikTok are in a tossup, as people have gathered there to share their own thoughts an experiences regarding the act.
There were a few supporters of childhood ear piercing, including one mom who wrote, "I didn't know people had issues with this. I had all boys, if any had been girls, they were getting ears pierced [before] we left the hospital. Eeek!"
Another mom was once a supporter, but isn't any longer. "My daughter had her ears done at 2. When she started nursery [school] some kid pulled on them she now has forked ear lobes. I will never be an advocate for it."
But Many Do
"Drives me crazy that some parents feel they have ownership of their child's body," wrote one of the many comments who agreed with Price that this request, and all requests for very young children to get their ears pierced, are ridiculous. "Thanks for being a voice of reason!"
"I almost lost it walking into a Claire's with my daughter and some couple [was] trying to get them to pierce a screaming terrified baby's ears," recounted another.
Overall, most people were applauding Price's assertion of his boundaries and his refusal to pierce a baby that young.
Teaching Boundaries
There remains a lot of debate about "how young is too young?" for a child to get their ears pierced, but Price (and other professional piercers who surely agree with him) makes a good point when explaining his reasoning for waiting until eight years of age. Children need to know what they're getting into, the responsibility of caring for the piercing, and most importantly of all, they need to be able to consent on their own.
Children deserve autonomy over their bodies, as it sets them up for self-advocacy in the future. If you assure them while they're young that their body belongs to no one but themselves, they'll be able to set healthy boundaries as they grow older, remembering what their parents taught them.
