Hi all…joined up here about 10 minutes ago.
Lately, I’ve been preoccupied with the idea of getting a full sleeve tattoo of a stylized totem pole. I’ve always held an affinity for Native American art and oral tradition, so this seems appropriate for me. I’ve spoken with a few artists in KC, and they seem eager to try.
The symbols or totems all hold significance (eagle, bear, turtle, dog).
The only thing holding me back is that I teach high school. We have some teachers with ink, but it’s not this bold and usually covered. I have no interest in wearing long sleeves at work during the warm months. Also, I don’t have any interest in asking for permission. Am I pushing the envelope a bit too far? Or, is 2012 far enough along on the calendar of tattoo evolution that it won’t matter. I’m 100 percent confident my students wouldn’t care–in fact, I think it might make me a bit more approachable to many. I only worry about fuddy-duddy administrators and parents. Your thoughts?
If you wish to give your thoughts on the concept of the totem pole, I’d be happy to listen too. I’ve seen totem pole tats, but never as a sleeve.
Look forward to hearing your thoughts.
kcgreyhound
Hello
I’m not really sure at all about having it as a teacher. To be honest though, alot of it probably does depend in what kind of an area you live. I spent two years in high school in the inner cities and my junior and senior years in the suburbs. In the inner city school there were ALOT of teachers that had visible ink; a few of them with full sleeves. When I switched to the suburbs there was only one teacher with a tattoo and it was 2 Japanese letters on each arm.
If you get a full sleeve as a teacher there is going to be times where you are going to have to cover it up. I don’t think that during class it would be a big deal at all, but during parent teacher conferences, administrative meetings, and what ever else is entailed with being a high school teacher. I’m sure a majority of the students would think that your an awesome teacher for having a sleeve but I am also sure that there would be parents who don’t agree with their teacher having a tattoo.. I hate to say it but there are still a lot of people who view tattoos as deviant but they are becoming much more accepted in todays world.
I think that you need to mention this to your superior, because it’s not what the parents or kids think, it boils down to you having a job and not. I’ve heard that landing a spot as a high school teacher is challenging, and is it worth the risk to have a sleeve?
You can still do an awesome totem pole “sleeve” concept on another area of your body.. What about torso and/or legs..
Give it some thought because this is your profession that could be jeopardized by ink..
Hope I was helpful
Zach
I decided that even though I don’t want to, I’m gonna shoot the superintendent an email to get his take on this. Sometimes it’s better to ask forgiveness than permission, but when dealing with something like this…better safe than sorry. If I had to wear long sleeves at parent conferences and meetings, no worries. I just don’t want to be relegated to wearing them daily, particularly during the hot months.
I researched the heck of schools tattoo policies. I used the search term “school district tattoo policy” and found a variety of results. For the most part, those districts with written policies state that innopropriate tattoos may not be displayed (drugs, alcohol, sexual overtone, etc.), but they don’t say that all tattoos cannot be worn. Other districts go furthur, saying that no visible tattoos are allowed, but those are rarer. One district stated that tattoos were only to be worn on parts of the body that could be covered by sleeves and pants, but didn’t state that they must be covered.
P.S. I did not get a response from our superintendent today. Of course, he generally has bigger fish to fry, but based on my observations around schools, many secretaries, janitors and teachers would save some ink to cover if they implemented such a policy.
I did get word back from the bossman today. He said that the belief of the district cabinet is thatvisible tattoos need to be appropriate or remain covered. He said they decided it’s not “their business” to dictate personal decisions if they don’t have a direct correlation the teachers’ ability in the classroom. I was delighted to hear this, and I hope other districts around the country will adopt a policy like this.
I think it’s really cool that they have the guy you asked has a sensible view on the issue. It pisses me off when simple jobs (starbucks for example) hold such a strict regulation on appearance. I worked there for 3 years and had to take piercings out on a daily basis and cover up my arm tattoo once i got it. If you can get the tat you want with no negative impact on your career then have fun doing so 🙂
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