NBA Tattoos

Doesn't have too much to do with schools, but I read an interesting article today on Yahoo about NBA player Kevin Durant actually having tattoos.  As the majority of NBA players have multiple tattoos, Durant's apparent lack made his image less "thuggish" to some.  Further reading of the article, which can be found here, includes this nugget,

“Plus, we've reached a point as basketball fans where tattoos are not an automatic sign of a thug. They're perfectly normal and a common feature of the league's most popular players. LeBron James(notes) is covered in tattoos, but any marketing issues he has are tied to his lack of a championship, not the belief that he's a gang member. That point of view is thankfully a thing of the past.”

As can be seen from the picture, Durant is heavily tattooed.  He just chooses to place his where they are not easily viewed while he is in uniform.  Is this for marketing?  Is it for image?  Who knows.  But the point is, it shouldn't matter.  

Many people have the misconception that a heavily tattooed individual is a gangster or thug.  The image of NBA players took a turn for the worse after Allen Iverson joined the league.  Iverson was one of the first NBA players to wear tattoos as a fashion statement.  His tattoos are heavily talked about all over the Internet.  His attitude and antics, combined with his legal problems in high school, fueled the belief that the NBA had turned into a gangster league full of thugs.  As quoted above, even Lebron James, who before signing with the Miami Heat could do no wrong, is covered with tattoos. 

Tattoos are no longer reserved for gangsters, bikers, and soldiers.  Tattoos have crossed over into mainstream life in a grand fashion.  You can find the most successful doctors, lawyers, CEO's, and law enforcement officers with tattoos.  You can also find their children with tattoos. 

In most areas, to legally obtain a tattoo, you have to be 18 years old or have parental consent.  The problem we face now is that many school-aged kids are getting tattoos from their friends.  The biggest issue here is not that the tattoos are gang related, but the sanitary condition of the equipment.  However, just like the misconception of those speaking about the NBA, just because a student in a school has tattoos, this does not make him a gang member.  Every tattoo means something different to the person that wears it.  

Looking at rapper Lil Wayne, it is easy to see that his tattoos are very significant to him.  Although he now claims gang affiliation in the majority of his songs, Wayne had many of these tattoos when he was an up and coming artist.  In some circles, the tear drops under the eyes means the person has killed someone, in others it stands for years in jail, while in others it is to pay respects to fallen friends.  And for others, they are just popular.  While Lil Wayne and those close to him know the reason for his, we cannot respectfully make assumptions.  Now don't get me wrong, several of his tattoos are easily identified as being gang related, as many of his lyrics are.  Couple that with the success of his music, it is no wonder that kids everywhere want to emulate his behavior. 

But again, just because a person of any age makes the decision to get a tattoo, does not mean they are a gang member.  As educators beginning in the earliest grades teach our children, don't judge a book by it's cover.  Unfortunately, people working in schools everywhere do not always practice what they preach (or teach in this instance).  Making assumptions about children, and then placing labels on them, can do much more damage then them running out and tattooing themselves will ever do.  There is a simple solution though; for parents, teachers, or people anywhere who wonder if something is gang related...ASK!  And if you are not comfortable with the answer, seek help.

To be fair, I can't close this out without acknowledging that there are NBA players who have gang related tattoos.  Yahoo ran a similar tattoo story several months ago about Golden State Warrior guard Monta Ellis getting a large tree tattooed on his chest.  What Yahoo (and the majority of every other website who ran the story) failed to notice or mention, is that also visible in the picture are gang symbols in each of Ellis' forearms.  The "GD" on his right arm and the 6-pointed star on his left are very obvious identifiers of his gang affiliation.