TCS 11th grader Daniel Escobar remembers the first time he pierced his ear. He was 12, and, seeing all his friends getting piercings, he gave in to the social pressure and decided to get one. He remembers how nervous he was, knees weak, arms heavy, as the piercer neared the gun to his ear. He remembers the pain as “indescribable”; however, Escobar would get more piercings in the following years.

Body piercings have become a very common trend amongst teenagers in the Columbus School, with numerous cases throughout High School, and stretching as far as Middle School. Teenagers usually get a piercing for one of two reasons; either they are into it, or social pressure; usually the latter. They get these piercings mostly in tattoo shops, where they pay about $30,000 pesos for an earring. The process of getting a piercing is rather simple, although it must be done by a professional as the risk of infection is high.

“I got my first piercing when I was in 6th grade, in El Tesoro, and the second piercing when I was in 10th grade, in Oviedo. In Oviedo the cost was $30000 pesos and in El Tesoro the cost was $20000 pesos,” Daniel Escobar, TCS 11th grader, said.

Besides Escobar, there are also a lot of people who want to get a piercing. This is because of social pressure mainly, because it’s strange to find someone that got a piercing by their own will. Social pressure is a has a huge effect in all schools; most students usually cave in to their peers’ persuasiveness.

“Im gonna get another piercing the 17th of November in El Tesoro, because my friends are pushing me to do this, and I like piercings, so I might as well get one. I was nervous at first about how people might see it, but it ended up being a good decision,” Samuel Villegas, TCS 11th grader, said.

“I have a piercing in the eyebrow, which I got last August. I got it because I’ve always wanted a piercing; this has nothing to do with social pressure,” Davide Sangiovanni, 11th grader, said.

The process is rather simple, however, it may be risky. The piercer has to be a professional to perform the whole process without an error. The piercer puts on rubber gloves and starts disinfecting the area for safety purposes. He marks the spot with a sharpie, and with a needle pierces the skin. If the piercing goes wrong, the pierced area could begin to bleed, and the ear’s tissue may be damaged.

“They clean your ear, or the part you are going to do the piercing on, then they mark the spot with a sharpie and finally they take a gun that has the earring and it is instantly put in the ear. It is really simple, but you are really nervous at first, and the pain is really harsh,” Escobar said.

In the weeks following the pierce, one must be very careful when handling the ear. First of all, you cannot take the earring off, much less touch the area if your hands are dirty, as touching the area could lead to an infection. As surreal as it sounds, an infection could lead to serious health complications, and in an extreme case, losing the ear.

“One time my ear got infected when I was in a finca because I took the piercing off and touched my ear with dirty hands. When I woke up I felt like my ear was really hot and it was hurting a lot, and when I looked at it I saw that it was like the size of a grape; I got really worried and had to go to the doctor, which led to me taking medicine for the swelling,” Martin Escobar, TCS 9th grader, said.

There really is no “perfect age” for a piercing; it all comes down to the person who wants to get one. Kids and teenagers start using piercings when they are mainly in Middle School or High School but, piercings can be used before. The people that get piercings or body art earlier in their lives, tend to get more in the future because to them it is like an addiction.

What has caused body art to explode in such a way? What causes this trend? According to most teenagers, they will say it’s because it looks cool, however, it has been observed in crowds that it is mostly because of peer pressure. Piercings, you could say, come from the need to fit in, to “improve” your body.

“I got my first piercing when I was in 7th grade, nearly 13 years old. The second piercing I will get is like something natural to me, I probably will continue to do body art on myself throughout my life,” Villegas, said.