Body modifying has become more popular throughout the school. It is easy to see someone with pink hair or sparkling studs on their face. Tattoos have always been popular but all body modifying has started to become a normal.

  “More people have been getting more tattoos and piercings,” sophomore Madie Breshears said.

  Breshears has multiple body modifications. She has her bellybutton pierced along with multiple ear piercings including her tragus. A tragus is the piece of cartilage that is external close to a person’s face. Breshears also has a tattoo of a rose and pocket watch on her right leg.

  Body modifying has be around since 3300 bc. The first documented tattoo found on Ozti the Iceman is believed to be over 10,000 years old. Although tattoos have been around for ages, they have just recently become more accepted. 

  “I’ve always wanted tattoos. I sketch mine out because they mean more to me and they are original,” Breshears said. “I got my tattoo for my uncle because he is on his deathbed. It resembles beauty and patience.”

  Breshears is not the only one who has wanted tattoos. Students of all grades and ages are plunging into this trend.

  “I have an infinity sign on my collar bone with faith and birds. I got it because I felt like I needed it. I felt strong,” junior Madisyn Gregg said. “I plan another infinity sign with the word family on my arm.”

Even freshman are excited to change their body.

  “I’ve dyed my hair green and blue,” freshman Sierra Keyte said. “I plan to gauge my ears a little and get my nose and lip pierced.”

  Students modify their bodies to make themselves feel better about the way they look.

  “I pierced my ears because I liked the way they looked and it made me feel good about my pointed ears,” Breshears said.

  Students see an increase in body modification. Some believe it’s to make themselves stand out.

  “I think people do it to stand out and not blend into the crowd,” Breshears said.

  Some students think it is to know what it’s like.

  “They do it because they think it’s cool and they want the experience,” Gregg said.

  Some students think people change their body to find their own identity.

  “I think they change to discover who they are,” Keyte said.

  “Body modification, which can be seen as positive self-expression or sometimes unprofessional, is defined as an alteration or addition to one’s physical appearance,” Deanna Borocz said in her article “Body Modifying Evolution”. “Whether it is through tattoos, piercings, fitness or cosmetic surgery, teens and adults across the country are attracted to body modification.”

  “At work I see multiple employees including managers with tattoos and multiple ear piercings,” junior Amber Flippin said. “Society is still a little iffy on face piercings. Well, except nose piercings such as nostril and septum piercings.”