As we walked into Graven Image Tattoo in Mountain View, we immediately heard the buzzing of the electric needles behind the crimson red saloon-style doors. Our eyes wandered from the doors to an arm covered in green, red, and black designs. The arm belonged to Daniel Rainey, one of the several tattoo artists at Graven Image. As he talked about the world of tattoos, the purring of the needle whispered in our ears, constantly reminding us of what was happening behind those red doors.

Tattoos have always been a taboo form of artwork that is loaded with negative connotations and a slue of judgments; however despite all of the controversy that arises from tattoos, one thing is certain: Tattoos are becoming more popular among the new generation. An April 2010 Pew study that looked at the Millennials (people in their teens and 20s) reported that nearly four in 10 have at least one tattoo, with half of them donning two to five tattoos and 18 percent having six or more.

This tattooed young population is even apparent at Paly, as more and more students are beginning to get inked at younger ages than ever. “I have noticed that the students that sport them are younger than usual—definitely the 16-year-olds, back in the day it was the 17-to-18-year-olds,” Paly math teacher Suzanne Antink says.

As more and more high school students are getting inked younger and younger, many even before they are 18, the problem of making these permanent decisions too early is beginning to rise. “It’s primarily always been younger people getting tattoos,” Rainey says. “Almost every single person that has been 18 has regretted getting their tattoo.”

However, junior Kristina Guzman, a member of this expanding group of inked young who got her first tattoo at 16, does not feel as though she will regret her tattoos. “I picked tattoos that have a special meaning, that I don’t believe I will ever get tired of,” Guzman says.

Guzman shows off the gray and black feather tattoo that lies just above her right hip, and her mother’s signature on the arch of her right foot. Guzman chose these two tattoos to represent knowledge she wants to carry with her throughout her life. “The feather means to go with the flow of life and I wanted it to represent that you can’t fight change,” Guzman says. “The signature on my foot represents my mom since it’s her signature, and to remind myself to always stay grounded.”

Despite this, Rainey believes that many young people do not get tattoos for their own personal reasons, like Guzman, but rather to follow popular trends, like celebrities. “What is popular right now is anything a celebrity has like the ‘Shhh…’ Rihanna has on her index finger,” Rainey says.

Much of the blame for this expansion in trendy and depersonalized tattoos has to do with the commercialization of tattoos that shows such as “LA Ink” and “Miami Ink”, have caused. “Those tattoo shows have definitely made tattoos head more towards the mainstream. They give people a skewed idea about the tattoo process and what a tattoo means,” Rainey says. It seems that under Hollywood’s spotlight, tattoos are becoming more of a trend, rather than a form of personal expression.

As the number of inked individuals rises, it is important to keep in mind the fact that while trends will fade and change with time, a tattoo will not. But rather, a tattoo will remain a piece of your body for longer than any trend will last. This is why it is vital for the young and anyone getting inked to take as much time and thought as possible to decorate your body with something that will enhance your individualism, rather than brand you as a product of society.

As Rainey cautions: “The older you are and the more thought you put into your tattoo, the happier you will be.”