Teachers and Tattoos

[pipersgrip]

i was just thinking tonight about my old teacher who had tattoo sleeves, he got a lot of gruff from the parents and some staff. personally, i think a teacher should have the right to have tattoos anywhere, as long as they aren't vulgar. what do you think about teachers and their tattoos?

[I.D.10-t]

Teachers with tattoos seem like a great idea. What better way to discourage unnecessary body modifications. I can imagine the conversation...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Hey, Jenny, why are you the only girl I know that doesn't have a tattoo?”

Jenny: “My home room teacher had one of the US flag, I asked her what the Kanji said. Not cool. After that when she went to the white board I could see that thing. When she sneezed the flag waved. I'll never be that old and gross.”

Jenny: “At least I don't have tofu on my arm.”

[Innocent Bystander]

I really don't care for tattoos. They seem to indicate a measure of distain for the body. Prisoners affect tattoos, it seems to me, to show that they really don't care what happens to their physical shell. Others adopt tattoos which do no more than indicate that they are already in a state of suffering. Preversely these tattos can aspire to beauty. I don't see that they achieve it. So I'm agin tattoos, in general. I wouldn't stand in the way of someone who wanted one, but to me it indicates an unhappy state of mind.

Despite this, I would not object to tattoos on a teacher. It is the insipiration for the subject that they teach, that is the important thing to me. Others, I know, seek for a model to demonstrate the manifestations of propriety. That is something I hope my children would learn at home.

It's an interesting question. I fear it may have to be transferred to the rubber room.

[Wanderer]

I'll have to disagree with ya there, IB. Perhaps it may be true in some cases, but it's too simplistic an explanation to cover all (or, i believe, the majority) of cases.

Take the Maori tattooing tradition (Ta Moko) which is an important cultural practice, and sacred form of family and personal identification. It's integral to their very culture. In fact, many tribal cultures have tattooing, scarification, and other body art as part of their cultural practices and beliefs. I certainly wouldn't pigeonhole them all as having unhappy states of mind en masse.

I would argue that your example of prison tattooing probably has much to do with the same social pressures of conformity, assimilation, and culture, more so than being a symptom of psychological problems. At least one study has been done to investigate the possible links between self esteem and tattooing, and found no statistically significant link between the two.

I myself have several tattoos, and I can state that I got none of them while depressed or in an unhappy state of mind, and that I felt no disdain for my body in doing so. In fact, I consider my tattoos a very personal form of permanent body art, and very much a part of who I am. I spent a long time (years, in fact) deciding on my first tattoo, being cognizant of the fact that the tattooing would be a permanent part of me.

Tattoos and other body art are much more socially accepted these days, at least where I live. I've seen bank tellers, school teachers, and HR managers with tattoos, nose rings, and eyebrow piercings. Where I work has a written tattoo policy that states only that "offensive" tattoos must be covered.

I see no problems with teachers having inoffensive tattoos, nor do I think that they should be forced to cover them.

[Flogging Jason]

Tattoos are as common today as poodle skirts were in the 50's. For many, getting a tattoo is a right of passage as a symbol of adulthood or a personal statement of independence. I have several tattoos(and more to come) and they are all visual expressions of the facets of my being. I even plan on getting a whistle tattoo one day.

[djm]

This guff about tats and rites of adulthood and culture is a total red herring. That stuff is not our culture. We are not Maoris. We are (probably) not prisoners, either. It is a fad, and even then, it is only a fad within certain social circles. There is a booming industry in tat removal, as people grow up and realize that alot of their tats are inappropriate, or should not be out on display.

I do not think a teacher showing off tats is a good role model for kids, unless the best you want to see your kids achieve is those circles where tats are in vogue.

djm

[missy]

My dad had tattoos on both arms (WWII, South Pacific, Navy). One arm was a rose, the other an eagle. By the time I was born, most of the colors except the indigo was gone (he didn't take care of them at all), by the time he passed away, it was hard to even tell what they were, the indigo had bled so much.
So far my son (Navy) doesn't have any tattoos, but I'd have no problem if he does get one. When Nate was in Basic, one of the guys in his "ship" was from an African country (I forget which, now) and had full facial tattoos.
I know a lot of people that have them, and a lot that don't. As long as they aren't offensive, I have no problems with them. I also know a lot of people that have them in places that they don't often show - and I know that many would be surprised if they knew that about the other!

So - for me, I really have no problem with a teacher having them. I'm much more concerned if the teacher can teach their subject well.

[Ro3b]

This guff about tats and rites of adulthood and culture is a total red herring. That stuff is not our culture. We are not Maoris.

No, but a lot of people feel that lack in our culture. I do.

I do not think a teacher showing off tats is a good role model for kids, unless the best you want to see your kids achieve is those circles where tats are in vogue.

Like my employer, a science policy think tank you've probably heard of? Some of my coworkers have some pretty cool ink. I've also known two lawyers with full sleeves. And at my last checkup, the doctor saw my half-finished back piece and asked me where I was getting it done, because he had an idea for a tattoo himself. It's not all punks and bikers anymore.

[djm]

If you're not enough without, you'll never be enough with.

djm

[Coffee]

If you're not enough without, you'll never be enough with.

djm

Tell that to this guy.





I'm never going to go quite as crazy with it as Breandan has, but I do have some inking on me and am currently in the process of designing my next one.

It's easy to make closed-minded generalisations, but much more difficult to get to know folks on an individual basis. The latter is usually more rewarding.

[pipersgrip]

My dad had tattoos on both arms (WWII, South Pacific, Navy). One arm was a rose, the other an eagle. By the time I was born, most of the colors except the indigo was gone (he didn't take care of them at all), by the time he passed away, it was hard to even tell what they were, the indigo had bled so much.
So far my son (Navy) doesn't have any tattoos, but I'd have no problem if he does get one. When Nate was in Basic, one of the guys in his "ship" was from an African country (I forget which, now) and had full facial tattoos.
I know a lot of people that have them, and a lot that don't. As long as they aren't offensive, I have no problems with them. I also know a lot of people that have them in places that they don't often show - and I know that many would be surprised if they knew that about the other!

So - for me, I really have no problem with a teacher having them. I'm much more concerned if the teacher can teach their subject well.

i see a lot of older folks who got tattoos back in the WW2 times, or Viet Nam, and i cant tell what it is at all, it just looks like a ink blob. i think tattoo care and ink has evolved way better now.

and all my tattoos are of heritage, or something that means something to me, not some kind of sparrow(which seems to be popular right now), or cherries. thanks for the opinions.

[Jack]

I guess it depends on whether the teacher is hot or not.

(Kidding, of course. Tattoos don't bother me. I have five piercings.)

[Wanderer]

If you're not enough without, you'll never be enough with.

djm

I agree with you. I think you're missing the point, though. It's not about being "enough" with or without the ink or whether the ink will make you somehow be something you're not. I think you're misunderstanding the intent.

It kind of reminds me of the cheapy versus expensive whistle debates...where some cheapy proponents say "Expensive whistles won't make you better" and folks who like expensive whistles say "I know..that's not what it's about."

As for "the best you can achieve"..well, I have 5 tattoos, 2 of them very visible, and I make 80 grand a year at the day job without a single day of college education. I theorize that where you can go has a lot more to do with your own drive and ambition than probably anything else.

[mutepointe]

i just can't wait til they all get old. especially the folks who got those big giant things in their ears. granny with body piercings, that'll make the grandkids laugh their behinds off just like when our grandparents pulled tricks with their dentures.

[Ro3b]

The only generalization you can really make about people with tattoos and piercings is that as a rule we don't care whether others have them or not.

Oh, and as for teaching, the green man tattoo on my arm usually shows when I wear a t-shirt, but it hasn't put any of my flute students off yet that I can tell.