Self expression is a key part of growing up, but as high school students take to self-tattooing, safety becomes a question.

Stick and pokes, also known as hand poke tattoos, only require a sharp object and ink to produce a permanent tattoo. The method has been around since ancient Egypt and has made a comeback in prisons and now in mainstream culture.

Tattooing is a form of self expression. It shows who you are and can be a point of pride for many. However, in Oregon you must be 18 to get a tattoo, regardless of parent permission. This regulation makes hand poke tattoos popular among teens.

Most tutorials for hand poking suggest a sterilized needle, pen ink, string, and a pencil. The procedure is slow and painful as the tattoo comes from poking the skin repeatedly with the needle.

One sophomore at Lincoln started giving stick and pokes during her freshman year. Originally she used the the needle and pencil method, but now gives them using a professional kit. She showed off one on the inside of her middle finger on her left hand that is about the size of dime. A tattoo this size takes about 20 minutes to complete.

As far as the precautions she takes, she always makes sure the person getting the tattoo has wanted it for a while and won’t give one unless she is in a positive and creative mindset for the piece.

She does them free of charge and believes it “allows people under 18 to express themselves through body art.”  As far as whether or not she will regret her tattoos when she’s older, she believes that since they are little pieces of art and not a written phrase, she will still recognize them as a piece of art when she’s older.

Other students agree with this. One junior said the pieces of art on her body are all attached to memories that remind of her of a significant time in her life and where she was with herself. She said she gave herself the tattoos instead of getting them done, because “I have a steady hand and I wanted to put my own art on my body and I don’t think I should have to wait until I’m 18 to do that.”

One senior who owns a professional tattoo gun had a similar reason to self-tattoo.

“I am eager to establish my own identity and I have a story behind each tattoo that I think I will really love thinking about in 30 years,” he said.

Jake Pooler from ThoughtCrime Tattoo downtown thinks otherwise. He said that stick and poking is looked down upon in the body art community and that it is not worth the health risk.

He has in fact covered up hand poke tattoos for people and said people usually say it’s something they did when they were young and stupid or drunk and that they regret having done it. He said whether it ends in an ugly faded tattoo or infection, it’s just going to cost money later on to fix.

A high school senior at Lincoln who got a stick and poke sophomore year showed what his circle-shaped tattoo looked like after two years. The circle on the inside of his finger has now faded and is barely visible. He said he wasn’t upset that it faded and that he simply wants to get it redone.

Lincoln history teacher Jordan Sudermann sports tattoos on his forearms and said he supports self expression on principle, but thinks “students should focus on less permanent ways to go about it for the time being.”

Sudermann also understands that it’s hard to wait until you are of age, but said he would rather suffer the wait then suffer the infection due to unsanitary conditions.

As far as safety, the best thing a person can do is wait to turn 18. If you still plan to poke regardless of the risk of fading and infection, spend $11 to order a a kit that includes sterilized needles and professional ink instead of using a sewing needle and Bic pen ink.