Posted on 03/18/2006 11:33:22 PM PST by MRMEAN
There was no hesitation when preschool teacher Alex Campbell began the process of filling her lower leg with a bright orange koi swimming in a blue pond of labyrinthine waves. The intricate tattoo is not hidden under schoolmarm tights or practical slacks; instead it has become part of the lesson plan in her class at Corner Co-op Nursery School in Brookline.
Campbell's students followed the process of their teacher getting a tattoo firsthand -- or as close as a 4-year-old can get to firsthand without stepping into a tattoo parlor. They talked about sketching, needles, and, most importantly, not touching Campbell's leg the day after she was tattooed.
Campbell, who seldom wore skirts before getting her calf tattooed, has switched over to a wardrobe that is far more skirt-friendly to display her pricey body art. Her next step is getting a full arm tattoo (those in the know refer to a full arm tattoo as a sleeve).
''I asked a few parents about how they'd feel about a teacher with tattoos on her arm, and they were fine with it," the 37-year-old Brookline resident says.
As tattooing reaches a mainstream crest thanks to shows such as ''Miami Ink," ''Inked," and even ''Meet the Barkers" and ''Prison Break," professionals such as Campbell are bringing more elaborate -- and more visible -- body art into the workplace. For Campbell, the tattoos were a non-issue at school, and even became a teaching tool that resonated with the tykes in her class. In the current tattoo-friendly climate, a number of white collar professionals are finding that body art is a helpful tool at the office -- a way to give a subtle nod and a wink to co-workers or clients that they run with a crowd that owns the new Arctic Monkeys CD ...
(Excerpt) Read more at boston.com ...
Do not be anxious. Time will tell....
Amen! I'm already starting to see women who are too old to support their tattoo's anymore.
Not appropriate at school or as part of a lesson plan, IMO.
I told my kids there is a reason that traveling carnivals have closed up over the years...
... you can see the same stuff at the mall for free!
Let me tell you what a tattoo is.
A gamble
It's a pure gamble. When your an adult, sure you can take that gamble. But when your a child you need to learn what making wise decisions that your not going to regret later is all about.
My wife is a model and she has a tattoo. Well, when she got it, she didn't know she was going to model. Now, she regrets the living day lights out of it, because she doesn't get some jobs because of it.
I have a guy who works for me who tattooed his arms up and down when he was a teenager. Now, he has to work out in the heat with longer sleeves than the rest of the guys because of it. He said he didn't think he'd be doing this kind of work when he was young.
It's a gamble and teaching kids this kind of responsibility is ridiculous, much less celebrating it.
Hmmmm.....learning to read and to count must not be very important in her school.
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