Bruce Cameron

Tattoos are how my children’s generation expresses its individuality, which is why they all have one.

I’ve got nothing against tattoos: They’ve been used for centuries to identify which sailors on a particular ship got drunk the night before. But at least those sailors, upon awakening and seeing the name Sheila inked into their shoulders, have the satisfaction of being able to say, “Who the heck is Sheila?”

My children are not sailors, but they are all of the generation that is determined to do to their own flesh what the Exxon Valdez did to the Alaskan coastline.

“You don’t need to draw perma...