Put Down the Tattoo Gun, Mom

Wow.  Now we've heard about all kinds of parents who do all kinds of off-kilter stuff to their kids, but this Mom-of-the-Year candidate really takes the cake!

Jo-Jo Marsh apparently tattooed six of her seven children.  She did tattoo the 10 year old but, in a burst of rare parental clarity, deemed the seven year old too young to be tatted.  The design these unfortunate offspring are marked for life with is an X that Jo-Jo wants to pass off as a cross.  Seriously, Jo-Jo?  Why a cross?  Is a cross tattoo going to somehow improve the perception of your tattooed 10 year old?

"Mommy!  Look at that boy!  He has an X tattooed on his hand!  He must be a biker or a gangster!"

"Honey, that's not an X, that's a cross.  He's obviously a nice boy!  You don't have anything to be afraid of."

One might question why on Earth a parent would tat up their children.  Well, Jo-Jo certainly has an answer for that query:  the children were BEGGING for tattoos like hers.  There you have it!  Makes total sense to me.  If a child BEGS for something, give it to them.  It won't be long until we see the Marsh/Bartels children smoking cigs and sipping Wild Turkey if it strikes their fancy.  Surely there is no value in weighing the merits of an activity and whether it is suitable for children or not.  If their kids BEG, they get!  My own children wish they were so lucky, I'm sure.

Ms. Marsh claims she did not know it was illegal to tattoo a child in the state of Georgia.  Her response to the question regarding her knowledge of the law was, and I quote: "Oh God no, that's why I was tripping so hard, that's why I was so upset."  Should we, at the very least, take some solace in that when confronted with the facts of the illegality of children being tattooed in the state of Georgia she had the decency to 'trip hard'?  Nah, I didn't think so either. 

Granted, I thought this woman was a kook from the get go.  One does not go about inflicting painful permanent markings upon small children unless they are under the influence of mind-altering substances or perhaps victims of some disorder found in the DSM-IV. 

But it gets better...or worse, as the case may be.  See, we aren't talking about Kat Von D here.  Jo-Jo isn't some upscale tattoo parlor owning celeb who, in true Brittney Spears fashion, tattooed up her children. That would be horrific enough.   No, Jo-Jo fashioned her very own homemade tattoo gun using a guitar string as a needle.  Does that make your head swim, or what?! 

The kiddos were removed from the home when the parents were arrested for child endangerment and cruelty to children, but they have been returned by the Department of Family and Children Services now that the parents are out on bond.  WHAT?!  This woman has yet to even pretend that she's sorry or comprehend how her actions were inappropriate!  She repeatedly defends herself with lame excuses such as:
1. "We didn't even break the skin barely"
2.  "they are very tiny, just through a few layers, on the top, they will fade away, that's how minuscule this is."
3.  She changed the needle each time
4.  As the children's guardian, she should have the right to tattoo them if she chooses.
5.  "Shouldn't I have say so over what goes on in my child's life?  I have custody of my child, I'm not going to hurt my child."

None of those statements indicate that she thinks she did anything wrong and yet, those children are placed back in the home with her.  Astounding!  She's not going to hurt her child?  I have a tattoo that I got at a real tattoo parlor with a real tattoo gun and it hurt!  I can't imagine a child getting a tattoo with a guitar string needle not thinking it hurt.  This woman is a LOON!

Those children need to be taken out of the home and Jo-Jo needs some serious help.  Children aren't toys.  I bet as a child all of Jo-Jo's dolls had their hair cut and were all markered up with faux tattoos.  What do you think?