In America there are 45 million people who have at least one tattoo, while about 75% of Americans don’t have tattoos, according to "History of Tattoos." Some people think tattoos are art, others think they are a way to express themselves and a way to be different from others. The average age to get first tattoos is between 17 and 18 years old. Many reasons why people get tattoos is to honor lost loved ones, to self express themselves, reminder for spiritual/cultural traditions, or a visual display of personal narrative. The 1970’s is when tattoos became very popular and became a big part of fashion. Now it is very common to have a tattoo and is more acceptable than it was before. I decided to interview three individuals about their experience of getting tattoos. 

First was senior Bereanna Weiland.

 Q: What is the meaning behind your Tattoo?

 A: I just wanted a tattoo.

 Q: When did you get your tattoo?

 A:  I got it in late September.

 Q: On a scale of 1 to 10 how bad did it hurt to get your tattoo?

 A: It was about a 4 to 6 depends where I got it.

 Next was junior Joscyelyne Keller.

 Q:  What is the meaning behind your Tattoo?

 A: It is a mother daughter tattoo with my mom.

 Q: When did you get your tattoo?

 A: I got it in February of this year.

Q: On a scale of 1 to 10 how bad did it hurt to get your tattoo?

 A: It didn't hurt as bad as I thought, I cried before I got it because I was so scared. It was only about a five, six during shading. 

Last is sophomore Jordan Veach.

 Q: What is the meaning behind your Tattoo?

 A: The meaning behind my tattoo is that the infinity sign stands for forever love, it has my brothers name in it and the colors blue and green for our birthstones.

 Q: When did you get your tattoo?

 A: I got my tattoo on August 8th which is my birthday.

 Q: On a scale of 1 to 10 how bad did it hurt to get your tattoo?

 A: The pain of my tattoo would probably be a 7, it wasn't as painful as I was expecting and it didn't hurt very bad.

Joscelyne Keller's mother-daughter tattoo.