Ministers will be asked to consider banning parents from piercing the ears of children or babies, because they are unable to consent to the procedure.
Labour MP Mark Tami said he intended to raise questions in the House of Commons about a potential age restriction for piercings, after a petition calling for a ban on child piercings has more than 28,000 signatures.
The MP for Alyn and Deeside first raised the issue in parliament after concerns from a constituent in 2013, but said he would ask the government to consider whether parents should be allowed to pierce their children’s bodies.
“If we allowed parents to do other things to their children’s faces, like tattooing, that would be appalling, but although piercings can heal, they can still cause distorting affects on the ear, in the skin and muscle,” Tami said.
“I would like to resurrect the issue, see it discussed again in parliament, and look to see what a potential age restriction should be,” he continued. “The question is, what age is appropriate? Certainly a baby or a child has no opportunity of consenting to having the procedure done.”
In July 2013, Public Health England published guidance together with the Tattoo and Piercing Industry Union, which made it clear there is no minimum age, but parents must give consent for the body piercing of minors.
According to PHE, there are currently no requirements for professional competence and no nationally recognised or accredited training courses for tattooing and body piercing.
The debate has been reignited by the 38 Degrees petition started by mother Susan Ingram. On the page calling for a minimum age requirement, she wrote: “Severe pain and fear is inflicted upon infants unnecessarily. It serves no purpose other than to satisfy the parent’s vanity. Other forms of physically harming children are illegal – this should be no different.”
But several have written comments under the petition, defending decisions to pierce children’s ears, with some taking exception to the suggestion of “vanity” when many choose to pierce ears for cultural reasons.
“As someone who had their ears pierced as a baby (a month old), I find this campaign absolutely and utterly pointless,” one wrote. “I am pleased that my parents got it done for me when I was a child and I have no regrets that they did.”
Dr Tim Ballard, vice-chair of the Royal College of GPs, said: “Piercing the ear lobes of babies and toddlers, in the vast majority of cases is unlikely to cause lasting damage, but that is not to say it does not cause the child pain during and after the piercing.
“We would suggest that having your child’s ear lobes pierced should remain the choice and responsibility of parents and indeed, in some cases, culture will impact on this decision. However, we would strongly advise against having your child pierced anywhere else than on the ear lobe.
“If a parent does decide to have their child’s ear lobe pierced, it is essential that this is conducted properly, in hygienic conditions, by a suitably qualified person and that proper aftercare guidance is followed.”
