Featured Image Credit: Matthew Horwood / Gegham Davtyan / Alamy Stock Photo
Topics: Parenting
Emma Guinness
Topics: Parenting
Body modifications are a big decision for anyone to make, which is why young people need parental permission before getting them.
So it only stands to reason that this mum was furious when her 11-year-old daughter returned from a sleepover with a whopping 10 new piercings.
News of the unbelievable turn of events was shared on Reddit by the mum, who'd posted anonymously asking for advice.
Advert
The mum explained that her daughter had been invited along with three older girls - aged 13, 14 and 15.
"I was a little reluctant about my daughter spending time with the older girls but we know our neighbours well and often go away with them," she wrote on Monday (27 February).
She then explained that like a lot of young girls, her daughter did have her ear lobes pierced, but she had given no indication that she was planning on getting anything else done.
The mum continued: "She now has her ears all blinged out with 7 in one ear and 3 in the other."
At this point, it's worth noting that piercings should only be carried out by a qualified professional because of the risk of infection and disease.
In the now-deleted post, she speculated that her daughter might have been pressured into getting the body modifications.
And because of this, she was debating whether or not she should ban her daughter from seeing her older friends in the future.
However, the upset mum said that she ultimately wasn't sure if banning her from hanging out with them was 'a good idea.'
Despite the shocking nature of what apparently transpired at the sleepover, responses to the Reddit post were mixed.
Reacting to the mum's quandary, one Reddit user said that the mum had to have a serious discussion not only with her daughter, but with the parents of the other girls at the sleepover too.
They wrote: "You obviously need to talk to your daughter about peer pressure, but I would actually be talking to the other parents as well.
"This was unacceptable, there are so many issues here and I would hope they would want to address [them] with their daughters as well."
A second added: "I really hope this wasn't a bullying situation where they did it to see what they could get the younger girl to do."
"That honestly seems barbaric," wrote a third. "The jump from 2 to 10 piercings [was] very potentially because of intimidation."
However, not everyone thought that what went down at the party was so extreme.
Arguing in the girls' defence, one Reddit user wrote: "This is pretty normal preteen behaviour.
"I'm not gonna lie I used to pierce other peoples [ears] when I was in junior high and my sisters friend pierced her belly button for her when she was like 13 [sic]."
"In the 90s this was a thing," agreed another. "My younger sister was always piercing someone."
What do you think?