Chuntera Napier, Georgia Mom, Arrested For Allowing 10-Year-Old To Get Tattoo

If you thought tots with tiaras were bad, how about tots with tattoos? Georgia mom Chuntera Napier says she couldn't tell her 10-year-old son Gaquan no when he asked to get a tattoo honoring his brother who had been killed by a teenage driver two years prior.

Authorities called Napier's action illegal, arresting and charging her with misdemeanor cruelty and being a party to a crime, according to ABC News’ Atlanta affiliate WSBTV.

"My son came to me and said, 'Mom, I want to get a tattoo with Malik on it, rest in peace. What do I say to a child who wants to remember his brother?"

Napier said yes and took her son to a tattoo artist in Smyrna where he received a tattoo featuring his brother's name and former basketball jersey number.

According to a 2010 law, however, "it shall be unlawful for any person to tattoo the body of any person under the age of 18, except for a physician or osteopath..."

Napier says she was unaware of the law, which was shown to her by police. She bonded out of jail on Wednesday but is in disbelief that her consent wasn't enough to let her son get a tattoo.

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Comments

[Johnny be good 2]

10:56 AM on 01/26/2012

Well, now we can feel and rest assured that no one will tattoo us with the "mark of the beast" so it must be something else unless they change the law and allow it or otherwise the beast will be arrested. HaHa

[CSKAP]

12:05 PM on 01/25/2012

Perhaps the question is, at what point should the government weigh in on what you do with your child.
Is a tattoo ok?
A piercing?
Corporal punishment?
Allowing the child to drink alcohol in your house?
Allowing the child to have sex in your house?
Is there a limit on the Parents rights regarding their own children?

[trapper9]

02:27 PM on 01/24/2012

So in some states an underage girl can get an abortion without parental permission, but in Georgia tats can't be given even WITH the parent's approval? What a sick country...

[bruceben9]

05:07 PM on 02/03/2012

you seem about as bright as these 2 laws you mention. insulting an entire country based on 2 state laws. wow. real genius.

[sister power]

12:56 PM on 01/24/2012

The United States has imbraced tatooing. Its all over the media and advertised on shows like LA ink and many others. So if a 10 year old ask his mother for a tatoo in memory of his dead brother and his mother say it is alright, whos to say it is wrong? That tatoo is between the 10 year old and his mother and her dead son, his brother. As long as it doesn't hurt anyone and represents something very personal to the child and mother no one should judge them. If he wants to he can always get it removed, but considering the tatoo represent the memory of his dead brother, I believe the 10 year old will honor that tatoo for the rest of his life, because it helps him feel closer to his brother.

[as63]

11:41 AM on 01/24/2012

I am disappointed that so many comments try to minimize this blatant demonstration of shocking ignorance and irresponsible mothering. Are you afraid you might be perceived as racist if you call it like it is? Sorry folks - If a black person does something that is obviously stupid it's still stupid.
The tattoo artist should go to jail, the mom should go to parental training, and the poor kid should be put with some family that is not run by an adult with a 10 year old brain until her mother is ready for her responsibilities.

[Kyann Marion Brown]

01:48 PM on 01/24/2012

Pretty sure you're the only one bringing race into this. Maybe other people just don't think a tattoo is the end of the world. Shocking ignorance? Ignorant to what, that tattoos are bad? Ridiculous.

[Deirdre McCullough]

05:47 AM on 01/24/2012

Although I not a fan of tattoo I think that it sweet that this child wanted a permanent reminder of his brother. Yes I do agree that a teeshirt would have been better but we do know after many washing teeshirt fade. This child did not want the memory of brother to fade and tats are the fashion of the day. In my hood kids wear pictures of their decease family and friends. Who has the right to tell this child how to grieve!!!

[davidswilkinsonpc]

08:45 AM on 01/25/2012

Well, the state has a right to tell a child how to grieve if the grieving involces premeanently alering his body. His mother also has the "right" to suggest that maybe getting a tattoo on his body before he enters puberty is a foolish idea- since his body will grow and likely alter the tattoo. Simply because a chiild "wants" something is not in and of itself a justifcation for doing it. In fact, in most cases, it is the complete opposite.

[Mr Crabs]

01:56 AM on 01/24/2012

So much for the gub'ment stayin' out of your own business.

[cbdorsett]

01:23 AM on 01/24/2012

Sorry, folks, but I disagree with all these talkbackers who think the mom made a mistake. It's obvious none of you have ever lost a child or a brother. This young man made a choice to honor his dead brother. That's a way of grieving. You think the state has a right to take that away?

The State of Georgia made a mistake. Not the mom and not the tattoo artist.

[cchristian1927]

09:32 PM on 01/23/2012

At the ripe old age of 3, I told my son that his mother and I were Santa Claus. Does that make me a bad parent? I refused to lie to my son. He is 38 years old and doing great. We lie to our children from the time they can speak or comprehend but it is the parents choice. Sure i read him bedtime stories but i always told him the truth. It was important to me as a 19 year old father to always be truthful with him and to demand the same of him. In doing so he would come to me with (everything) because he knew i would give it to him straight. Yes, even into adulthood. As long as a child is not being abused physically or mentally or asking for something that is way into left field, leave that parent alone to make their child happy.

[bruceben9]

04:42 PM on 01/23/2012

this is absurd. it is one thing for someone to feel it is wrong for this family/mom to let her 10yr old have a tattoo however, how about staying out of this family's business. it's that simple. it is an infringement on this family's liberty. it seems there are a lot of folkers out there that have no problem interfering in another family's business. don't try it with my family.

[cchristian1927]

09:12 PM on 01/23/2012

Well said bruceben9

[lesaltatum]

03:28 PM on 01/23/2012

Why didn't she just get him a t'shirt to remember his brother? Or how about those memorials people have on their car? It would have been cheaper and the whole family could have gotten one. I have seen people do this when a grandparent or other family member passes away. Then when the kid became 18 he could choose to get a tattoo on his own.

[berlytowns]

05:09 PM on 01/23/2012

And when someone closest to you passes, will you remember that person your way, or the way someone else tells you to? Think about that. In your most private and painful moment, someone is telling you that you're doing it wrong and you should suffer and grieve THEIR way.

[lesaltatum]

05:54 PM on 01/23/2012

As an adult I will choose how I will grieve. When I was a child I grieved according to my parents wishes because I followed their direction. Plus in my comment I did add that this young man could choose to to what he wanted when he came of age.

[RYCRAZY]

03:07 PM on 01/23/2012

We allow the piercing of a baby's ears or any other part for that matter. We allow mothers to take their 16 year olds for breast implants. Let's be real now. If the tatoo parlor was not in compliance with the law they should be investigated. You expect when you walk into a place of business that they are complying with state laws. She should not be penalized.

[lesaltatum]

03:57 PM on 01/23/2012

But allowing a baby to get pierced ears prevents a medical condition called keloids. Usually it is done by people who have a family history of this.

[keshiawho]

05:11 PM on 01/23/2012

Actually, getting piercings is what CAUSES keloids!!!

[casaba]

05:13 PM on 01/23/2012

I believe the frequency of keloids is lower in childhood piercing than adult piercing. However, it is the piercing that causes the keloids in both cases. The best prevention of keloids--especially for those with a family history--is no piercing.

[Whatdoyou thinkof this]

03:03 PM on 01/23/2012

What do you say to this child... simple.. NO.

There are many other ways to remember a brother or son that has passed away.

[berlytowns]

05:18 PM on 01/23/2012

So when someone closest to you passes, I'll call and suggest how you should mourn.

[Whatdoyou thinkof this]

05:50 PM on 01/23/2012

I bet you are one of those that thinks that whatever "norm" there is, that anything contrary to that is OK. Would you have telling the Nazis that it was OK to put tattoos on the arms of Jews ?

[luckymac219]

06:39 AM on 01/25/2012

A child is free to mourn all he wants, but he still needs boundaries. Perhaps another way to remember his brother for now, and then a tattoo later on should he still want one? He's 10 for Pete's sake, not 20. Dead brother or not, he needs boundaries.

[Tess41]

02:26 PM on 01/23/2012

The sentiment behind the request for the tatoo is all well and good but Mom should have said, "Great idea!, The minute you turn 18 we'll do it!"

And yes, the tattoo artist should be fined as well.

[Jondrea Smith]

03:17 PM on 01/23/2012

Why? They didn't wait until he was eighteen to take a scalpel to his tallywhacker....and by the standards as of late, he's old enough to be tried as an adult in Georgia, so why not let him get some ink to honor his brother?

[tffstv]

02:12 PM on 01/23/2012

I get that people would excuse the mom allowing the boy to get the tattoo because of the sentiment behind it but you can't pick and chose it's ok in this instance but not ok in another. If a parent wanted to tattoo their name on their kid for kicks would that be ok? I work in the ob field and some parents if I had the choice wouldn't even be able to name their kids let alone decide if they can have a tattoo. True story; One girl was 15 and didn't know anything about the father except he was born in Japan so she named her baby Japman. Would you want to give her the right to decide if her kid could have a tattoo?

[lesaltatum]

03:00 PM on 01/23/2012

Good point. I think that all kids with some of these crazy names should be able to have the fee for changing your name waived.

[BearPAPABEAR1]

11:20 AM on 01/24/2012

Question? Who died and made you the name a baby "God"?