Are you willing to be stabbed repeatedly by a tiny needle for hours on end to express yourself? Tattoos are a very controversial topic. Some see them as a way to express one’s self, others see it as a waste of money. What some think is cool at 18, may not stay the same at 30. A few students from Ledyard have shared their opinions.

Sophomore Anna Leandri believes in expressing one’s self so long as it’s not excessive. She is planning on getting a tattoo herself that says, “There’s a sunshine in your soul that no one can dim.” Leandri likes small tattoos like quotes or flowers but not sleeves of tattoos. She says “I think tattoos are a great conversation starter; everyone has their own opinions about tattoos and it’s good to talk about it out loud.” While it’s good to talk about, it is also something to hide. A lot of jobs don’t accept workers if they have tattoos in a place that can’t be hidden, like on one’s face or hand. Leandri thinks, “companies shouldn’t look at tattoos and discriminate, if people choose to show their body art off then that’s their choice.” Leandri, along with many other students in Ledyard High School, are in favor of tattoos, however, there is also a large group of people against tattoos.

Sophomore Forrest Paradise is highly against tattoos, he doesn’t like them at all. Paradise says, “tattoos aren’t for me, if someone else has them then good for them, but tattoos just aren’t my thing.” Paradise thinks that when people get older, they won’t think of the great time they had or the memory, they’ll think about how it doesn’t look like it looked when they first got it, and how they changed so much.

Many people think they can look back at the tattoo, maybe it’s a four leaf clover that reminds them of a camp that they went to as a kid, maybe it’s a quote from their parents that changed their life. Whatever it is, it’s a happy memory and when they look back on it they’ll be filled with joy.

Age requirement is another big part of getting a tattoo. When a person turns sixteen, they can get a tattoo with their parent’s permission, and at eighteen, they can get a tattoo on their own. Leandri believes that people should be able to get one as young as 16 on their own, as long as they take it seriously. Paradise, on the other hand, believes, that at 16, one doesn’t really know what they want, and they could get something they’d regret later. Leandri and Paradise don’t agree on most parts of tattoos, but they do agree on one thing, the price. Tattoos are fairly expensive and for good reason. Paradise brought up, “Art is expensive, and tattoos are body art so it makes sense that tattoos are expensive too.” Leandri agreed with that but also said, “For the most part if you want a safe, clean tattoo, then you’ll need to pay a good amount.”

Leandri and Paradise are two sides of the argument on tattoos, one side against and one side for tattoos. Both sides agreed and disagreed on different parts of tattoos, but one thing they both said is that there is no stereotype of people with tattoos. In the past, people would think of gangs or bad people when they saw tattoos, but that is no longer the case. More and more people are getting tattoos and not everyone is on board, but they look at the people the same way as they would if they didn’t have one. People are people no matter what.

Erin Tolles, Staff Writer

Sophomore Erin Tolles is a staff writer for the 2017-2018 Colonel. Erin, a.k.a. ‘CRAZY CAT LADY’ enjoys singing and playing her ukelele. She would much rather be in summer camp being a super cool counselor than in school. Erin is obsessed with popcorn and Harry Potter, like most normal people, and flees America and travels to Austria annually.