I mean it depends on the situation.

I am 15 years old and i have 00 gauges

and I totally understand job consequences ect.

i have dont all of my stretching the RIGHT way compared to all of the other teens out there

i actually when to a piercing parlor and asked them questions and i did my research before gauging.

I graduated high school in 2002 (I'm 25), and I remember when I was a sophomore and junior, some of my friends had 0g and larger ear lobes.  They were the only 2 or 3 kids in the school with them, but they had them.  They were probably 15 and 16 at the time?  It just wasn't that big of a deal.  It's their body, and if something bad happens, they'll learn!  My philosophy is that they're going to do it anyway, and it almost seems like if you let them do it, they'll be more responsible about it, ya know?  If you tell them,"You can't do this," they're going to want to rebel and go bigger, faster.  That's just me...you can get mad. hehe  They're gonna do what they're gonna do.

if i have a kid that wants to get modded if he's 16+ sure i'll let him do it but i'm not letting him stretch of anything like that untill he's over 18..

 I'm 16 and I have two 5/8" lobes, and one 10g lobe piercing. Unforutnately I was one of those kids that rushed into stretching! I started when I was 14 and used all sorts of horrible things, mostly homemade tapers made out of polymer clay (yikes!). I trying to stop myself at 2g so they'd be able to go back at least a little bit incase I changed my mind about all of this. As you can tell I couldn't help myself and kept stretching. (Here's the embarrassing part) I didn't start using proper procedures/materials until I got to 1/2"!!! I was too concerned with keeping my lobes hidden, I didn't really care what was in them as long as it was big. I stretched them to 1/2" the day I turned 16, now 5 months later I'm at 5/8"

 If my parents were open to the idea of body mods I know I would have had safely stretched ears, and small ones at that. I'm lucky I've never had a blow out (knock on wood). Now my ears are pretty permanently stretched, but I do adore them. 

 (I'm new to the forums by the way!)

Needle, see Baby's reply below yours?  You can't stop your kids...they're going to do what they want to do.  All you can do is make sure they do it safely.

I'm seventeen and what I see in my school on a daily basis is repulsive.  In my opinion, I think people should wait until they are 16-18 to even start thinking of stretching or looking into seriously visible and permanent body mods.  I see people everyday with ripped ears and the most terrible tattoos.  At school I try to give good advice about mods as often as I can... because like someone else mentioned, its the ill-informed teens and people who cast a shadow on the entire modded community.  I currently do not have my lobes stretched, I have a 16g tongue-web piercing, 16g tragus, and two other various helix piercings at 16g.  Until last month I had my ears stretched to 0g, and I loveeeeddd them (still do).  However, I was about to make a the jump to 00g (my goal size) when I actually tried to take things into perspective.  In the future I see myself with stretched lobes and various other mods.  But as a 17 year old, I decided to wait.  I've kept all my plugs, tapers, and tape until I am a little more settled in life.  Plus, who said downsizing is bad anyways? I've been keeping up with my oil massages and I don't think my lobes have ever been happier. :)

On a side note, I think BAF is the best thing ever.  I found it a couple years ago, and I've been on it on-and-off again since.  If more people knew about it and kept themselves as well informed as the adults and teenagers on this forum are, then I think the world would be a bit of a better place!

I got my first tattoo at 16, next about 6 months later, next at 17 and third at 18. I was out on my own already so I didn't have anyone to answer to and wanted them. I don't regret any of them, and thought it through, but I wouldn't let my kid follow in my footsteps. I got my ears gunned at 12, and started stretching at 15 and am at 1g now. Im almost 20, so my stretching has been a slow process.

If my son wants to start getting piercings he'll have to wait until hes 15+ for anything other than his ears. It will all have to be discussed and based on other things like attitude, grades, cleanlines, respect, etc. Tattoos I'd let him get one at 17 depending on the same circumstances, and how mature I thought he was and what it was that he wanted.

I know a lot of kids in my school that wnt through a skinhead phase. They all hung out together and they usually changed their fads quite often. They now all have iron crosses and the likes on their chests/arms/legs that they will be embarrassed about until they cover them up.

 Yeah I agree with Wisabo. You really can't stop kids from exploring certain things. But if you inform your child of the risks, and set limits for them and allow them to do it properly to a point its fine. If I had a kid I would be fine with few certain piercings, ok with a small stretch (I'm talking like 8g), no tattoos until 18. Kids need to get some body mod exploring out of the way before they're adults and can't have visible mods. 

babypietattoo:

Kids need to get some body mod exploring out of the way before they're adults and can't have visible mods. 

Adults can't have visible mods? I totally missed that in the handbook. :P

 Well my face is red, I've been overdue on removing my mods due to adulthood for several years now.

I too feel silly.  I wear a suit to work most days.  I'll make sure to tell my boss on Monday that she really shouldn't have hired me!!

 Um... Clearly I, nor anyone I work with got the memo.. because my tattoo sleeve, stretched ears and multiple piercings including an often visible tongue piercing have not been a hinderance in my career. I've basicallly become the associate director of my dept... and the ear stretching and sleeve have been done SINCE I've been in this position.

Quite honestly, I posted the picture of me in the suit to show some of the younger folks here that you can be modded and have a "straight" professional job (and to turn a few of the hotties on).

And to the 15 year old who thinks they understand the repercussions of mods on job.. until you are 100% responsible for financially supporting yourself, it's really impossible to know this.

I'll restate my thinking here:  For some things, you really might want to wait until you've figured out 1) what you want to do, 2) what you need to do to get there, and 3) get so good at it that your reputation for your work supercedes and prejudice anyone would hold because of your mods.

Hell, I didn't get the memo either.  If I had I would never have started getting modified since I was well past the age that it is considered acceptable when I started.  

Axon:

Adults can't have visible mods? I totally missed that in the handbook. :P

Many adult professions don't allow you to have visible mods. Plain and simple as that. Even just as a teen right now I hide my plugs for work and flip up my septum.