Kids/ Tattoos - What Age is Acceptable

[Sundae]

The fifteen year old girl I work with on Saturdays has just had a tattoo, fully sanctioned by her mother.

My problems with my co-worker's tattoo are as follows:
- It's illegal. She is 15 and the minimum age in the UK is 18. Her mother let her have it as she has wanted one "like, forever"

- It's a fairy. Cute on a teenager, but very much of the moment. She chose it from a book on the day she went in.

- It's on the back of her neck. So she believes she will always be able to hide it. Of course this counts on her always having longer than collar-length hair.

For the record I have a tattoo myself – I have nothing against them per se. But I made my decision slowly and carefully and from our conversation I conclude that she hasn't.

Am I right in thinking she might regret it and deserved better guidance from her mother, or am I just over-cautious and perhaps getting a bit old? Obviously she's had it now and it's not my place to approve or disapprove. It was my reaction to it that surprised me and I wonder if it's a slippery slope down into being an old woman who thinks the world is going to hell in a handbasket and saying the kids these days don't know they're born.