Can you legislate parenting?

JANUARY 26, 2010

A legislator from South Florida is pushing a law that would make it illegal for anyone under 16 to get a tattoo and would require parents to show up in person to give consent to anyone under 18 getting inked. Last week, South Florida Rep. Mary Brandenburg unveiled the legislation, which includes extra safety measures to combat the high rate of hepatitis infections from tattoos.

There are no age limits for tattoos in Florida, but parental or guardian consent is required for minors, under current statute.

It strikes me as just good parenting to get a kid to keep his body unchanged until he's 18. If I'd have gotten a tattoo at 16, I'd be the only 40 year old at the PTA meeting with Duran Duran on my rear end. But is that for the state to say? At least in one state, you can get arrested for tattooing your kids.

The Senate sponsor is Eleanor Sobel, D-Hollywood, who is also sponsoring legislation to require parental consent for teens using tanning beds.

Both good ideas, I'm sure. I usually think education is a better weapon than legislation, but maybe the safety message just isn't getting through.

--Sharon Kennedy Wynne

[Photo: A cover of tbt* imagines what's in store without a tattoo law.]

Posted by Times Editor at 7:00:00 am on January 26, 2010 in

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Sharon Kennedy Wynne has sunscreen in her blood. She may have been born in Buffalo but she got here as fast as she could, in time for kindergarten. She grew up in St. Petersburg, graduated from the University of Florida journalism school, and even got married at Sunken Gardens. She's one of the few adults we know who actually loves taking her kids to the beach. She has two sons and with 10 years of parenting under her belt, she's starting to feel a little less out of her league. She comes from a large family and loves to debate, so brace yourself when the hot topics come up.

E-mail Sharon Kennedy Wynne:
wynne@tampabay.com

After six long years of trying to have a baby, Kate Brassfield was finally able to have one. And then, two minutes later, another one. Suddenly the lady who had never been around babies before was juggling two! Just as Kate felt she was getting pretty good with babies, the girls became toddlers, and now Kate is back to Square One, learning about the care and feeding of these strange, wonderful creatures. She spends her days working part-time from home and trying to keep up with the Twinosaurus Wrecks.

E-mail Kate Brassfield:
katedaphne17@gmail.com

Freelance writer Courtney Cairns Pastor wasn’t so sure about having kids and how she would balance child-rearing with her journalism career. It turned out that her journalism training went to good use. As the mom to a funny, active toddler, she learned to handle him like she did her sources. Never ask yes or no questions (the answer will always be no), get him to be specific (are you crying because you’re wet or your tooth hurts?) and be prepared for anything because no two days are the same. When she’s not playing trucks, Courtney crams for her book club, trains for races and occasionally bursts into showtunes. E-mail her at courtneyblogs@gmail.com.

Suzannah DiMarzio has it bad for the Mouse. Although she grew up outside of Boston, she took her degree in tourism management down to Orlando just to work at Disney and the travel industry. Of course, when she married her high school sweetheart, the reception was at Disney. She’s now a seasoned stay-at-home mom to two tweens and a toddler – and yes, that is as crazy as it sounds. Suzannah has her own blog, ZannaLand.com , and she's a member of the Walt Disney World Moms Panel in addition to being addicted to Twitter, iced coffee, and watching way too much Yo, Gabba Gabba.

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