The ink of a tattoo might lie just under one’s skin, but the meaning goes much deeper.

When getting a tattoo one is making a commitment to wear an image on the body for life.

“It hurts way more to get a tattoo removed than it does to get one in the first place,” Austin Goff ‘11 said. “Therefore, you have to consider what getting a tattoo means to you.”

As tattoos are esssentially hundreds of small injections, the process of getting a tattoo can be unpleasant,

Katy Blackburn ‘11, who is tattooed as well, agreed that pain can be a component of getting inked. She also said that if it is something that someone really wants, she believes that it is definitely worth the amount of pain.

Yet not everyone wants marking on his or her body forever.

“I don’t mind tattoos on other people, but there’s nothing that I really want to permanently have on my body,” Brendan Bernstein ’11 said.

Ari Torv ‘11, another student with a tattoo, also noted that tattoos last forever. “People should get a tattoo if they are passionate about what they want one of. They’ll regret a tattoo if they get one on impulse,” Torv said. “But tattoos become a part of who you are, so I think it’s important to weigh out ideas.”

Though for Staples students tattoos may be means of expression, they are a source of income for many other people.

For instance, Josh Glasser, owner of Ink Side Out tattoo parlor in Norwalk, said that he does work with a lot of teenagers who come with or without their parents. He explained how according to the Connecticut State law, 16 and 17 year olds are permitted to get a tattoo with parental consent, while anyone who is 18 or older is allowed to get a tattoo without permission.

Glasser explained how his tattoo parlor takes numerous safety precautions to prevent dangers—each client uses a completely new and clean set of needles and after is given antibacterial ointment to clean the tattoo for a week.

In response to the permanency of tattoos, Glasser said, “The most important thing for parents is to do research to find the best artist so that the work looks good because it is going to be on their children forever.”