A New York mom has been arrested for allegedly giving her 10-year-old son permission to get his name tattooed on his arms.
Crystal Thomas, 33, from Highland, faced criminal charges in October after her son reportedly went to the school nurse and asked for Vaseline for his tattoo, The Independent reported.
As per the authorities, the mother allegedly allowed her son to get a "rendering of his name in large block letters tattooed on his forearm."
Thomas claimed that it was a bad misunderstanding. The mother thought his son was asking for a temporary tattoo and expressed that she firmly believes that "no little child should get tattooed."
Illegal in New York City
The Lloyd Town Police charged Thomas with endangering the welfare of a child but has since been released on an appearance ticket, instructing her to return to the town court at a later date, according to Mid Hudson News.
The 20-year-old tattoo artist, Austin Smith, had also been taken into custody and was charged with dealing unlawfully with a child.
He thought that children could get a tattoo if they got their parents' permission. He expressed regrets during the arraignment hearing and told the New York Times that it was the worst mistake he had made in his life.
Tattoos for minors, kids less than 18 years old, are illegal in New York City.
The law states that parents who allow placing indelible ink or pigment by means of tattooing in the body of a minor can be charged with child endangerment.
New York City is not alone with this law. Several other states are mirroring the city's strict rule of over-18 years old to get a tattoo.
However, other states allow teens as young as 14 to get a tattoo on the condition that their parents have consented. A dozen states, including Ohio, West Virginia and Vermont, allow tattoos for kids without specific minimum age as long as with parental blessing.
Arrest gives rise to a debate
It is not often that news comes out about parents getting arrested and facing criminal charges because they allowed their minor children to get a tattoo. Aside from Thomas, many others have been arrested and charged, giving rise to a debate with parents expressing that their consent should be enough, especially since tattoos express one's self and journey.
Meanings of tattoos vary across families, communities, and cultures. They say any attempt to place boundaries on permissible tattoos for minors can undermine parental rights and freedom of conscience.
Some expressed that there is nothing intrinsically harmful about a tattoo. Thus, it is "a huge bit of government overreach" to arrest and charge parents criminally if they allow their minor kids to get one.
"Just because some parents might think it unwise doesn't mean other parents should be put in jail for it. That isn't to say that tattooing a child could never be considered child abuse -obviously, there are situations in which it could and denying this is absurd. But to consider it always child abuse is equally absurd," Elizabeth Nolan Brown wrote for Reason.
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