Massachusetts Laws on Minors Getting Tattoos and Body Piercings

Mom has been gone for 30 years, but I still miss some of her Momisms (it's a word, look it up).

A typical conversation between my mother and a teenage me might go like this:
Me: "Ma, can I ride out to Horseneck Beach with Johnny in his new car?"
Mom: "No."
Me: "But why not? Everyone else is doing it."
Mom: "If everyone else jumped off the bridge, would you want to do it too?"
Me: "But all my friends' mothers are letting them do it."
Mom: "I'm not your friends' mothers."

With Mom, that was about as much logic as it took to win an argument.

Today's moms face different challenges, such as body art. It seems everyone is piercing, puncturing and painting themselves these days. From nose and nipple rings to ear plugs, tunnels and sleeves, it's all about the artwork.

What exactly is body art?

The Cambridge Public Health Department says, "Body art shall mean the practice of physical body adornment, alteration, or modification by means including, but not limited to, piercing, tattooing branding, braiding, beading/implantation, or scarification, also known as scarring."

Massachusetts has strict rules concerning body art.

The first rule is, "No person under age 18 can get a tattoo, even with parental consent." Genital and nipple piercings are not legal for persons under age 18, even with parental consent.

Next, "A person under 18 can get a piercing other than genital or nipple piercings if they are accompanied by a parent, legal guardian, or custodial parent who has signed a consent form." A minor under 14 can get an ear piercing with parental consent.

Get our free mobile app

Local communities may have additional restrictions. Massachusetts provides model regulations for body art establishments "where boards of health seek to enact regulations governing the practice of body art."

Massachusetts banned tattoos for 38 years ending in 2000 when the courts decided tattooing is an art form protected by the free expression clause to the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.