My name is Karen DuVall and I am a piercing and tattoo enthusiast. I have 5 tattoos and 6 piercings and I love to study the art and histories of both. But one thing I do not condone, and never have, is the piercing of an infant child that can't even speak yet.
Just this evening, my fiance and I passed by an Icing in our local mall. This store is owned by the same company as Claire's Accessories and they do ear piercing there. Piercing guns themselves are filthy and cannot be properly cleaned and use dangerous blunt force to pierce the skin and slam the jewelry on in a manner that creates a breeding ground for bacteria. Unsanitary nature of the guns themselves aside, what caught our attention was the heart-wrenching screams we heard coming from the store. We looked inside as we passed, and we saw two parents, a mother and a father, having their infant baby pierced. The screaming was coming from the baby. It's face was red and covered with tears as it shrieked while the employee put the piercing gun to it's ear. The father just stood there smiling as his child cried.
My hands were shaking with fury at this. It's one thing to actually consent to having a painful body modification when you are of an age that you fully understand what you're getting into. An infant does NOT understand these things. They don't know what's happening, they don't know how to take care of it, and all they know is it hurts. They cannot give consent to have this done to them. I think this is child abuse and I don't understand how Claire's Accessories can be okay with allowing parents to do this to their babies. I don't see how any employee can be okay with piercing an infant either.
I think that Claire's should not be allowed to pierce anyone under the age of 8. That is an age where the child can understand what will happen, and can willingly say that they agree to have it done.
No more piercing infants who can't speak for themselves. No more passing by chain stores with screaming, crying babies in pain. No more child abuse.
~Karen DuVall