Are tattoo's an addiction?

Many people say that tattoo's are adding but I feel that it is just a myth. People get tattoos for many different reasons. I do not feel that people would "need" to get a tattoo and calling it an addiction such as drugs. People get tattoo's because they like the way they look on, to represent something, and possibly because they think they look cool. People don't get tattoo's because they love the feeling of needles in their body.
I like getting tattoo's because of the way they look once their finished. All of my tattoo's are hidden but I have many hours of work put into them. I don't do it because I'm "addicted", I do it because I enjoy the look of them. I have a scroll on my foot that says mother, best friend, and family in chinese letters because my mom is my everything. I have three flowers on my thigh to represent my sister, my mom, and my grandma and under the flowers it says, "A bond that will never be broken." My back piece is just a bunch of designs with no representation. The point I'm getting at it some people do it for different reasons.
Tattoo artists do tattoos because they are very good at art and enjoy what they do. People that have tattoo's all over their body have put lots and lots of money into them. In big cities they are ridiculous prices. For something as small as a quarter, they may charger you 300 dollars. I couldn't imagine paying that much for something so small. Every time I travel I always check out tattoo shops and ask prices because I'm always curious.
I think that if anyone was to get a rush and be addicted to tattoo's it would be the tattoo artist. The artist is the one who hears everyone's stories, who puts something permanent on someone everyday, who get's to take their art and designs and make it into something real.
http://www.kotatv.com/global/story.asp?s=11159969

Teen Fashion, Body Piercing and Tattooing

Everytime I search tattoo's and piercings I find a lot of the same information relating to teen's being more involved at such younger ages. After reading this article I realize how true it is. I heard kids under the age of 18 talking about getting or already having tattoo's and piercings. I got my first tattoo at 15 but when I got mine, they weren't popular to get at such a young age. Now everyone has them whether their 14, 18, or 21. The more tattoo's on younger people I see are getting trashier and very stupid. My ex boyfriends dad just let his 14 year old brother get the monster energy drink "M" tattooed on him. What parent in their right mind would sign for a child to get that tattooed on them? I have saw anything from play boy bunnies to girlfriend or boyfriends names. I understand if a child finds a way to get the tattoo without their parents signing for them, then the parent can take action but what about these parent's who are signing for their children to get tattoo's like that? The kids are in high school! Yes, I know some couples last forever but why would you want to get their name tattooed on your body at such a young age?
I know that teenagers do crazy things and majority of the time don't think about what their doing before they do it or they think it's something cool to do. Many teens are also followers so if their crowd of friends are doing it, they should too. In high school kids go by what's in style, the cool color to dye their hair to be different, ways to cut or style their hair, the clothes they wear, or the things they do such as smoking, drinking and doing drugs. Clothing, hair cuts, and hair dye come and go, its fixable. Smoking, drinking and doing drugs is something a parent always has to worry about their children getting into but tattoo's don't come off. Once they are put on your body, theirs no way to fully go back and get rid of it. You can cover it up or try to get it removed but somehow or another it will always remain.
Parent's need to think about what their letting their children do. I'm not saying it's a horrible thing to let your child get a tattoo at a young age but make sure it's something their never going to regret. I got stars on my lower back when I was 15. Do I regret it now? No, but you can't see it unless I have a swim suit on and I love stars so as of now it doesn't bother me. Will it bother me when I;m an older person? Possibly but like I said you can't see it unless I have a swim suit on so it can always be covered.

http://www.theparentreport.com/resources/ages/teen/behavior/100.html

Tattoo's and Piercings at a work place

When searching for a job, everyone goes through the interview process. An interview is a meeting of judgment. Back in the day if you have exposed tattoo's and piercings it was almost an automatic no that you won't be getting hired. Now days many managers look over the tattoo's and piercing's because they are so much more common. Now days most people would try to say that they are discriminating if they didn't get hired because of a tattoo or a piercing instead of looking at it logically and realizing that they shouldn't be exposed in the work place.
A study was done and 36 percent had piercings and 22 percent had body art. At a work place the only things considered as discrimination is things like race, color, religion, and age. Managers and Owners are allowed to ask employee's to cover up their tattoo's or take out their piercings while being at work.
Managers have to be careful when asking employees to cover up tattoo's and what their limits are on piercings. Some may have a limit to the number of piercings a female can have in their ear but what happens when they tell a male that he can't wear any piercings at all? You have to treat all employee's equally.
I feel that some piercings do need to be covered up. If it is very visible and looks trashy or not normal then it should be removed at work. If it's an ear ring or a small piercing such as a nose ring, some people would rather see a little stud in their nose then a whole or a band aid covering it. Tattoo's should not be visible because it doesn't look good when someone has a tattoo on their neck or hands, to me that is a little trashy. Those are the tattoo's that people should have removed or not even get at all.
http://www.articlesbase.com/human-resources-articles/tattoos-and-body-piercings-get-under-managers-skin-2688229.html