ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, January 19, 1997 TAG: 9701200047
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DWAYNE YANCEY STAFF WRITER
WHY WOULD PARENTS give their teen-agers permission to get a tattoo? Here's one mom's story.
When 16-year-old Mike Mueller wanted a tattoo, his mom didn't freak out.
Instead, she assigned him homework.
"I said, 'I'm not saying you're going to get one, but if you can show me one that's appropriate, I'll consider it,''' says Shari Mueller, who works in public relations at Virginia Tech. "I didn't want anything demonic or evil."
And she wanted to make sure her son understood the consequences of such a permanent decision - so she required him to talk to people who have had tattoos for a while. "He did a lot of research," Mueller says. "He even went to the library and got some books out."
Finally, Mike came back with a proposal for an American Indian medicine man's shield on his arm.
"That's a pretty benign symbol," his mom says. And the idea of her son getting a tattoo wasn't especially repugnant to her. "As long as a kid has a reasonable design, it's not such a bad thing," she says.
So she said OK; she even drove Mike to Roanoke and sat with him through the procedure.
She admits she's probably a more lenient parent than most. "I would imagine most people would think it's very California of me to do that," she says.
Despite her leniency, though, she thinks a proposed state law requiring a parent's permission before a minor gets a tattoo is a good idea. "I'm really surprised it's not the state law," she says. "It would probably solve a lot of arguments."
Not surprisingly, Mike Mueller, now 17 and a junior at Blacksburg High School, sees things differently. "I think it would be a bad law, because if parents didn't agree, that could cause more conflicts," he says. "The kid would hold a grudge."
He says that kids understand that tattoos can't be removed, at least not easily.
"I think kids today can make that decision," he says. "When you get a tattoo, you know you're getting stuck with it. Some people go through a month of trying to pick the right one."
Although his mom gave him the OK for the shield, she has drawn the line on the second, "more dramatic" tattoo - maybe a dragon on his shoulder - he's been lobbying for.
That's OK, Mike says. "I'll probably go out and get the dramatic one in a few months when I turn 18.''
LENGTH: Medium: 54 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: CINDY PINKSTON STAFF. Mike Mueller, 17, had his mother'sby CNBpermission to get his tattoo. color.