Then it's time to do some investigative work, advises Ruth Kraus, assistant professor of clinical psychiatry at the University of Chicago. The important thing to do is cleverly find out exactly why they want to do it. Look past the obvious and focus on the mood and functioning level. When kids choose to get violence-related tattoos in visible spots on their body, or like to get pierced because the pain makes them feel good, or continuously pierce themselves, there may be a problem, warns Steve Gerali, chairman of the Department of Adolescent Studies at Judson College in Elgin. If your teen is 'pierce crazy,' it should make your antenna perk up.
Some kids get multiple piercings because they like the rush of pain and the endorphin high.
Keep things in perspective and remember that every generation has its own way of asserting its independence. Teens must do things to annoy their parents, like a teen code to separate themselves from old folks. Pierce and tattoo themselves.