What is a good age to start stretching?

[Kayn9ne]

I think a good age would be around 16 thats when I got my first tattoo I think at least by that age you know a little more about future plans with your body, 13 would be way to young at least for 1" plugs

[Nic]

lol i know many people that stretched there ears about the same time i started an they ended up takin em out. They clearly didnt get it. I am in this shit for the longhaul. I want my ears to look how they do for the rest of life. At 13 theres a big chance they didnt take into account all factors. Sum people cant handle being judged, at 13 there is almost no way u know for sure u want that.

[shellbournian]

Imho I think that's totally okay. I recall seeing a picture of Thai child around 6 years old with huge lobes online somewhere.

Need I remind everyone that stretching (and tattoos for that matter) are as old as human existence. Otzi the Iceman had ~11mm lobes. Tutankhamen had ~10mm lobes.

In contemporary culture (in the US at least, what say you UK folks?), age is completely arbitrary. I guess what I'm saying is that no matter how old you are, there's nothing wrong with doing anything you're comfortable with. What's next? How old is "too old" to stretch your ears?

[corazon_de_oro]

Yeah, but doing something that could become a permanant part of your body is a pretty adult decision to make. I wouldn't support a 13-year-old getting a tattoo and I think ear-stretching is the same thing.

[shellbournian]

Kids in high school have to make choices of whether or not to take certain AP classes so they can have an easier time going to certain colleges that cost tens of thousands of dollars a semester. If they're mature enough to decide their life 18-21 (and beyond!) and make that decision at 14, why can't they be mature enough to put a plug in their ear?

It's not like stretching is going to give you cancer or something. Most kids around this age (at least the people I hung out with) are getting into drinking and smoking at this age. I'd be more concerned about that then a little hole in your ear. At the end of the day, they're just ear lobes.

Not trying to start an argument, just saying.

[Boffey]

Im 15 and my left lobe is at 1/2 inch, its my goal size and i dont want to go any bigger. I always wanted stretched lobes since i was like 12, and earlier this year i thought i'd try and do it.

[ms.doomsday]

i started stretching at 13.

whatever age he was when he started is certainly too young to know its really what you wanna do..

after all, theres always surgery.

[WindowLicker]

It pisses me off what parents let their kids do nowadays like playing the games they play and watch the movies they watch. Stretching however, is new knowledge to me. Stretching isn't that big in my area, mostly just country hicks and jocks, or if you go further into the county you hit the rich areas with snobby douche bags. No 13 year old kid should be walking around with lobes stretched that big. I agree with some of you, where it's ok for them to be at a smaller size gauge because if they decide they don't want their ears stretched then they can always take them out and they'll heal right up, but a freakin inch is ridiculous. My parents didn't even let me get my ears pierced or get a tat until I turned 18. I don't think I'll be that strict with my kids, but I certainly won't let them start stretching that big that young.

[corazon_de_oro]

Kids in high school have to make choices of whether or not to take certain AP classes so they can have an easier time going to certain colleges that cost tens of thousands of dollars a semester. If they're mature enough to decide their life 18-21 (and beyond!) and make that decision at 14, why can't they be mature enough to put a plug in their ear?

It's not like stretching is going to give you cancer or something. Most kids around this age (at least the people I hung out with) are getting into drinking and smoking at this age. I'd be more concerned about that then a little hole in your ear. At the end of the day, they're just ear lobes.

Not trying to start an argument, just saying.

Eh, school counselors/principals and stuff act like everyone has to decide their future in high school but who actually does that? I wasn't 100% sure what I wanted to do with my life until my third semester of college.
And even if you do decide what you want to do at a young age (like if you decide you want a career that'll allow stretched lobes), there's no guarantee you'll get that career. There's also no way of knowing how long it'll take and what other jobs you'll have to do in the meantime. A lot of people think they'll never have to work with the public for a less-than-ideal wage but it might have to do if you have bills to pay.
A lot of what I'm saying comes from seeing my boyfriend get turned down for jobs because he has visible tattoos that he got when he was younger. Permanent body mods can wait. I'm not saying a teenager can't have small stretches, but there's no reason for a 13-year-old to have one-inch lobes.

[anzia768]

I still don't know what I want to do when I grow up and I'm 29yo.