Mary Lord and Rachel Lehmann—Haupt

With tattoos and body piercings increasingly sported by fashion models, pop singers, and movie stars, tattooing has become one of the fastest—growing retail businesses in the United States. As body modification has gone mainstream, practices such as branding and scarification that were once considered extreme have become commonplace in large cities across the United States. While teenagers are the primary patrons for these practices, the generation gap often leaves their parents feeling left out of the decisionmaking process and at odds with their own children. Mary Lord, a senior writer for U.S. News & World Report, and freelance writer Rachel Lehmann—Haupt explore the mine fields parents must walk when their teenagers want body art.