Henrique Souza
eSomethin staff
Imagine placing a permanent mark on your body at the young age of 18, one that will reveal your personality, character, and perhaps your past to anyone who sees it.
Some students and staff at Perrysburg High School have done just that.
Perrysburg High School counselor Alana Sigg has 11 tattoos.
“I think itś beautiful, I think itś expressive,” said Sigg. When she made the decision to get her first tattoo at age 20, she picked a place where she could cover it. 16 years later, she finally got one that she can’t hide.
One concern that people have about tattoos is that they may interfere with job interviews. People feel like tattoos make them appear less professional.
“I think that society’s views at that time were negative towards them, and I think that they impacted the culture. As culture has changed. And as views have changed. I think it becomes more acceptable, however, I think that there still is right and wrong, or indifferent, a stigma, a stereotype for those that have them,” Sigg said.
We are shifting, society is always changing and even though there are still negative stereotypes about tattoos, they are vanishing gradually. That’s why you have to think about it after you get one.
“They say to take your tattoo picture and hang it up, and see if you like it in a year. Just make sure that you can either cover it up, or until you are confident with it,” said Sigg.
Tattoos can be removed, the process is expensive and time-consuming. Conventional wisdom is to think carefully before committing to a tattoo design.
Sigg said her favorite tattoos are those that are most meaningful to her.
“ I have two anchors, they are for my sons. And they have been like most children I imagine to their parents they are just that my whole world revolves around them I anchored around them so I got to anchors on the inside of my ankles to because they were ones that I could see, and they were ones that people were gonna notice and ask about and I would be able to talk about them. Those are probably my favorite ones.”
Some students also have tattoos at our school.
Senior Hayden Reinhart has two tattoos. She has a feather on her neck behind her left ear.
“The feather: all the girls in my family have it,” said Reinhart. “Even my great grandma has one,” she added. “They are all connected by this bond they created through a tattoo. She also has a 3/3 symbol in her right arm. My older sister has a 1/3. The middle has a 2/3. And I have a 3/3.”
Reinhart said the tattoos create an unbreakable bond between her and her sisters, and she will always carry them with her.
“As long as it’s not bad, inappropriate, by the age you turn 16 you are aware enough to make a good decision. I’ve always wanted to have one. Teenagers are capable of making decisions like that.”
“I have this 777 on my arm, that’s a protection symbol, my guardian angel will be always with me” said the student Kaitlin Schmidt. A tattoo has the power to make someone feel protected,? How tattoos can be so small but carry a very deep meaning with them.
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