I haven't read the whole thread yet. I'm 28 years old and just got my navel pierced when I was 25. I guess I'm not entirely sure why I did it. I think that I was going through a quarter life crisis. I saw some jewelry that I liked, so I decided that it wasn't as permanent as a tattoo and would be fun. I don't show it off nearly as much as I did a few years ago. I liked wearing shirts that showed the midriff a little bit, but mostly it was just fun to know that I had one. By the time that I start having kids in a year or so, I'll probably be okay with taking it out and letting it do whatever it is that it wants to do. It did get a little infected at first, but if a person keeps it clean, it heals alright.

I've considered tattoos off and on since I was 18, I still don't have one. My dad then said that he didn't know how he felt about it because technically he thought that it was important to show your body respect and treat it as a temple (From a Christian stand point...) . Though he did say that if I really felt as though I NEEDED one, then as long as I did it tastefully, he'd support it. I decided that I needed to design one myself, in order to be unique. I only just within the last few years figured out what I would get, if I did get one. I don't think it'll happen though.

16 is still pretty young though. I *think* that I read that piercings aren't always a good idea at a young age because your body is still developing. I'm not sure how much it would matter with a navel piercing.

It seems like everyone is providing ways to educate her and keep her from making a rash descision to allow her to decide for herself how important it is. That's great. Though I think that I would tell my daughter (if I had one) that I wouldn't give my permission for any piercings further south than that.

Still, 17 is young enough to have the slim and trim youthful body and she'll have lots of years to enjoy the piercing then too!