Tattoos for boys

 I don't know why boys get tattoos for their names. But I have heard stories of kids dying of shock when they woke up and found out they were not at home.

Honestly, if I did that to my son, he would not come home for a long time.

But maybe tattoos for boys really are for boys.

takes a trip to my room

Parents get tattoos

However, in a country where tattoos on women seem to be a bigger taboo than tattoos on men, some parents have taken it upon themselves to change their sons' names to more conventional ones.

When I first heard about this practice, I thought it was a hoax. But the truth is that parents in Tanzania are so creative, sometimes they come up with really brilliant ideas.

An example would be parents who decide to take their kids to school with tattoos for their names.

I guess it is their way of making up for their sons' naughty behaviour. Some of the tattoos on the faces of the boys show the exact nature of the boys' punishment when they come home.

It seems like tattoos for boys are for those families where there are enough space to get a tattoo.

I have heard parents saying, "since my son is showing his tattoos, he needs a bigger room."

As a mother who has taught my boys that tattoos are not for boys, and that boys should not have tattoos in the first place, I will not allow my boys to have tattoos.

Still, the idea of getting tattoos for a child is a conversation for another day.

Although tattoos are the reason I do not let my daughter have tattoos, she does have tattoos for her name. She does have tattoos on her legs and arms. I used to think it was a bad idea but now I like them.

Perhaps the tattoos were done to make her look masculine.

So maybe tattoos for girls are the modern version of tattoos for boys.

nina.mawatari@bdmweb.co.t, @iamniwna, elisa.awati@bdmweb.co.t, @missawati.

See the writer on Twitter: @niwa_awati

When I first heard about the trend, I thought it was a hoax. But it was very, very true. See the writer on Twitter: @niwa_awati

Hearing from Mwanaisha Kawati:

I got my daughter a tattoo

There is a trend in Tanzania for parents to get their daughters tattoos. And what's the motivation?

Apparently, the motivation is the desire to be "cool".

I guess it is a recent trend because I first heard of this practice in 2002.

I wanted to get my first child a tattoo but my mother told me I should not because it would be a sign of disrespect to my father.

This was an era in Tanzania where tattoos on the faces of girls were a big taboo.

While my dad always said tattoos for girls were a big no, that they were for boys and girls with bad tattoos would never make it in school.

So, I didn't get my daughter a tattoo.

But when I had my second child, I decided it was time for her to get a tattoo, which was different from the tattoos for boys.

I got a tattoo for her to match the tattoos for her brothers.

I did not get her the tattoo because I wanted her to be "cool".

I wanted her to look masculine so that the boys in her class would not ridicule her.

Most of the boys in her school had tattoos on their faces and arms, so I thought it was a good idea to get her tattoos for her name.

And when I thought about getting her a tattoo for her name, I thought it was a good idea because I never really liked tattoos.

And if she did get a tattoo for her name, I would never let her go to school with it because I would be a bad mother if I did.

Weird, I know. But it was my way to show her that tattoos for boys are for boys.

It was my way to show her that she is not a girl, not a girl for boys, and not a girl for boys, she is just a girl for herself.

After a while, she found out that tattoos for boys were really for boys.

One day she came home from school with tattoos on her neck for the boys.

I have heard parents saying, "since my son is showing his tattoos, he needs a bigger room."

Honestly, if I did that to my son, he would not come home for a long time.

But maybe tattoos for boys really are for