Couple arrested for giving their kids homemade tatoos, thoughts?

"I'm their mother," Patty Jo Marsh said late Saturday. "Shouldn't I be able to decide if they get one?"

Georgia law prohibits tattoos from anyone other than a licensed professional. Children under 18 are also prohibited from getting tattoos.

Marsh and her husband, Jacob Bartels, did the tattoos in their Summerville home. They cleaned up a tattoo machine someone gave them, and used guitar strings as a needle. Out of the seven children in their custody, only the youngest child did not get a tattoo.

"They weren't hurt by them," Marsh said. "We would never do anything to hurt them."

Marsh said the children, ages 10 to 17, wanted the small cross tattoos, and the couple did them after Thanksgiving. But when two of the children spent a weekend after Christmas with their biological mother, she reported it to DFACS and police.

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Asked by sweet-a-kins at 10:11 AM on Jan. 4, 2010 in Politics & Current Events

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Answer by sweet-a-kins at 10:11 AM on Jan. 4, 2010
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Yeah I read that in the news yesterday and thought it was crazy! I live in GA and would be pissed if someone tattooed my daughter! Especially how unsafe they did it was ink from a pen and a guitar string. I also read that the 6 month old have mom and dad tattooed on them. I bet that hurt the baby!

Answer by ABPeterson at 10:14 AM on Jan. 4, 2010
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have these people not heard of temporary tatoos?

Answer by 3_ring_circus_ at 10:16 AM on Jan. 4, 2010
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Gross_ I could see temporary, but real ones.

At that age, kids don't actually know what they want-especially when it comes to tatoos. OMG, just nasty.

I don't speak badly of them, but at that age they are just too young.... I have one, but I was mature enough to get it well over 25...

Answer by KFree907 at 10:20 AM on Jan. 4, 2010
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If I would have asked my mom for a tat at 10 I would have been SMACKED back to reality! lol

Answer by sweet-a-kins at 10:23 AM on Jan. 4, 2010
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They are freaks of nature!

Answer by Anonymous at 10:24 AM on Jan. 4, 2010

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OK-I'm all for tattoos or whatever-but seriously? what the hell is WRONG with people!?!?!

Answer by charlotsomtimes at 10:25 AM on Jan. 4, 2010
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Well, in this case I think it's a bit odd. However, there are families that still follow certain cultural and family traditions and require all family members to get a family symbol tattooed on them at a certain age. Usually it is a coming of age thing though ranging from age 14 to age 18. In this case, I think temporary tattoos would have certainly sufficed.

Answer by anime_mom619 at 10:25 AM on Jan. 4, 2010
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These people are crazy, really crazy. I love tattoos, but they aren't something to do lightly. I mean, it's easier to get rid of a crappy husband than a crappy tattoo.

What they did is unsafe, unsanitary, and they are marking their kids for life. There was no reason they couldn't have waited and let the kids chose once the kids were no longer kids.

Answer by MunchMunch at 10:31 AM on Jan. 4, 2010
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The reason they need to be 18 is because children are not capable of making a grounded decision on something that will affect them the rest of their lives. Why don't we give them each a pack of cigs and a glass of wine too. It won't hurt them.......

Answer by Steff107 at 10:35 AM on Jan. 4, 2010
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