I'm not qualified to pass judgement on this, but why make an exception as I pass judgement on everything else..........
There must be many complex reasons why people elect to mark their bodies permanently. Maybe there is only one reason why people don't. There's no question that kids have tats (and smoke) to "look hard". There also seems to be a link to body piercings. I don't understand any of this, except that some people need to belong to a group by exhibiting visual clues, by clothing, hairstyles, etc etc etc. Five days a week I belong to the suit & tie office worker group, who generally don't display tats. When off duty I belong to the checked shirt & jeans group. I make no attempt to be fashionable or fit in in any other way.
Anyone who doesn't fit my self image will be judged - that's human nature. At the moment tats are a fashion statement, so those who have them are at the very least, victims of fashion.
So - I don't have any real answers, just a ramble.........
