This has been the phrase so frequently heard in association with the new tattoo law. Teenagers want to know why the government has a say in what they do to their body.

McCune was planning on getting a tattoo along her side before the law was passed. She explained how as she started her family, each of her children’s names would be added to the branches, thus creating her tree of life. McCune’s mother had no objection to her tattoo, but prior to putting her plan into action she was informed she must wait another year before inking. She didn’t understand what the big deal was if she was one year older or not.

“If your parents don’t like it when you’re 17, they won’t like it when you’re 18,” McCune said.

While this may prevent younger teens from getting ridiculous body art, she explained how if an individual wants a gaudy tattoo or unconventional piercing, then whether they are 17 or 18 won’t make a difference. Either way they will get it.

Junior Jake Price has taken a different approach to the change in policy.

“It’s just a law,” Price said. “I am indifferent to it.”

Price got his first tattoo when he was 15 years old. He grew up Catholic, and his mother would buy him St. Christopher medallions for his birthday. Year after year he would lose them, and finally he found the solution. On his back he placed the cross with the saying “St. Christopher protect us” with some of his own design elements incorporated.

While this law change may prevent some people from doing something they may regret later on, to Price getting a tattoo isn’t just something trendy to do. He sees it as a chance to be an individual. To him a tattoo must have meaning behind it before it becomes permanent.

“It’s become a part of me,” Price said. “I don’t think I could ever hate it.”

Around the time of the law change, Price was starting his next tattoo. This one was a tribal design up his left side. He had started shading it when Pawlenty signed the bill, making it official. Price saw one solution. He started filling it in himself and has been working on it since.

While some people may not the proper technique for how to do body art at home, for many armatures trying to do this on their own, it may lead to health risks. And with the added attention drawn to tattoos and piercings because of the law, more minors are looking to get one, one way or another.

“Think before you ink,” Price stated. “I definitely agree with that.”