Hudson Valley Question: Is 14 Too Young for a Nose Ring?

I don’t have kids, so I’m probably not the best person to answer this question. I do know that most of the people that I know with kids always say pick your fights, don’t sweat the small stuff. Is a nose ring small stuff or big stuff? I mean, you’re putting a hole in your face. I got my ears pierced when I was in 6th grade, and it didn’t go well. It got infected because I was too young to handle the responsibility. 

The question came up recently in one of the Facebook groups that I belong to. The mom who put the question out there to the other mothers has a nose ring herself, but was wondering if she should let her 14 year old daughter get one. There was a lot of feedback, and it was mixed.

Some mothers thought it was a horrible idea, that 14 is too young to take care of a nose ring, which does come with a certain amount of maintenance. Piercings can easily get infected if not cleaned regularly, and teenagers can be a little lax when it comes to things like that. Some of the moms thought why mess up an otherwise pretty face?

Other mothers thought 14 is old enough and it’s a great way to teach the teen responsibility. Some moms said go for it because if her daughter hates it she can always let it close. And some pointed out that the mom of the future piercee has a nose ring, but she was much older when she got hers.

So, what do you think? Is 14 too young for a nose ring? Does it depend on the teenager?  I was too young in 6th grade to handle the care of a piercing, but I got my ears repierced when I was 16, and all was fine. Here’s my take. If the issue is with age and not the nose ring, a mature 14 year old might just be old enough, and an immature 14 year old may not be old enough. And you can be a good judge of that because nobody knows your kid better than you do.