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Mom gets inked to save rebellious
daughter
Saturday, Aug 14, 2010, Page 13
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Atattooed former teenage rebel has been brought back onto the straight and
narrow thanks to an unconventional parenting strategy used by her mother. In a
show of solidarity with her daughter, the woman went through the pain of getting
a tattoo for herself, and now the daughter is beginning to turn her life around.
The daughter, identified only as ¡§Hsiao-rou,¡¨ turned 18 this year. She got her
first tattoo when she was still in the sixth grade of elementary school, and was
always running away from home. She ordered an assault in which the victim was
seriously injured, and while other students were in class or sitting exams,
Hsiao-rou was at juvenile court.
But now those dark days are all in the past, and Hsiao-rou has recently signed a
letter of agreement to remove her tattoo, saying to her mother, ¡§You are the
trendiest mother I know.¡¨
Although Hsiao-rou has been a problem child, her mother never abandoned her, and
instead always tried to understand what was going on inside her daughter¡¦s head.
She not only accompanied Hsiao-rou to juvenile court, she also played pool and
other sports with her. But the ultimate show of solidarity came two years ago,
when the mother got a tattoo on her right arm to show that the two women
belonged in the same camp.
Before getting the tattoo, Hsiao-rou¡¦s mother thought a tattoo was just a
picture on the skin and wouldn¡¦t hurt much, but after getting it done she
realized that it is a painful process and that young people get tattoos to make
them feel individual and give them more confidence. Hsiao-rou is a hereditary
diabetic. When her mom first saw the tattoo, it didn¡¦t immediately occur to her
that her daughter had ¡§become a bad girl.¡¨ Instead she felt guilty and became
concerned for her daughter¡¦s health.
After all she¡¦s done down the years, Hsiao-rou realizes what she has put her
mother through, and has finally started to change her rebellious ways. She now
has a hairdressing qualification and in future intends to go back to school then
work as a makeup artist for brides. Hsiao-rou¡¦s mother is delighted with the
change.
A few weeks ago, Hsiao-rou enrolled herself in a tattoo removal event jointly
organized by Kaohsiung Juvenile Court and Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial
Hospital, which is where her mother revealed the tear-jerking story to parents,
court officials and medical staff. Once again, Hsiao-rou was moved to say, ¡§My
mom is the trendiest mom I know.¡¨
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