The nurse is teaching a parent group of adolescent children about body piercings and tattoos. What ...

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One of the strongest needs for teens is to feel accepted within a group of their own choosing. Acceptance on a sports team, in a club, or in a clique increases the teen's sense of self-esteem. Additionally, adolescents may engage in the trend of body art and piercings for a number of reasons, including a desire for social bonding, desire to look like their peers, and the wish to commemorate a friend or loved one. Tattoos and piercings can cause skin infections and blood-borne disease such as HIV and hepatitis and parents and teens should be educated about this. Some studies have reported a significant relationship between piercing and substance abuse, leading some to speculate that body piercing may serve as a marker of an at-risk teen. However, most teens who have tattoos and piercings do not have a substance abuse problem.