Parents are furious after their children took part in a mass tattooing session at a Texas middle school, where they circulated needles among multiple classrooms, all while their unaware teachers continued with their lessons, as reported by the NY Post.
On Tuesday, the students allegedly used temporary ink to tattoo each other with the shared needle, leading officials to worry that they might have also exposed themselves to potential infections. “How is it that these kids are getting tattoos in class and not one teacher noticed it?” mother Ashley Armstrong told Fox 4 News.
Armstrong’s 11-year-old son, Jordan, used a contaminated needle to write “I heart my lord” across his forearm and “JC” on his hands. The incident happened on Tuesday while in his classroom at Travis Intermediate in Greenville, about 50 miles northeast of Dallas. Jordan noted that a boy approached him with the offer to tattoo him. That needle was “shared several times from one class to another class to another class,” Armstrong told the outlet.
The school nurse called Armstrong to inform her of the troubling incident and advised her to get blood tests done right away. Thankfully, the results came back negative for any diseases. Armstrong reprimanded Jordan, reminding him that “he knows better,” but she expressed concern over how the teachers allowed this underage tattooing to escalate.
On Thursday, Greenville ISD addressed parent’s concerns, announcing that several teachers from the classrooms involved have been suspended while an investigation is ongoing. “Greenville ISD is aware of an incident at Travis Intermediate School where students gave each other tattoos using temporary ink and the same needle,” the district said in a statement.
#Clique, what are your thoughts?
Texas middle schoolers shared needle during mass classroom tattoo sessions — in front of oblivious teachers https://t.co/Tq4ojygPSr pic.twitter.com/phI8FopV73
— New York Post (@nypost) March 1, 2025