As a special treat for receiving good grades in school, a 10-year-old Jacksonville, FL boy was given permission by his parents to get his initials tattooed on his leg. What stands as a "family tradition" to them was a problem for local authorities.

The boy, as well as his siblings, were promptly removed from their home and placed into foster care by the Department of Children and Families. The DCF arrived at the Garrison residence over a different matter, but once the child's tattoo was seen, the choice was made to remove the children.

Jerry Garrison, grandfather to the young boy, said of the incident with DCF, "I didn't see why a tattoo was such a big issue to begin with, and I didn't see where none of this was right." All of the Garrison family members have their initials inked on them.

DCF insist that other allegations caused the removal and not that tattoo. "When you get into cases like this, is the child being abused? Is the child at risk? Are the actions of the parents putting the child at risk," said Jerry Harrell, a spokesperson for DCF.

While bringing a child in to get a tattoo seems like a irrational thing to do, it does look to be quite common. Todd Lake, a tattoo artist with two decades of experience, said, "Under the old law, I believe you probably could bring your kid in, legally, with notarized parental consent. But right now it's probably a big gray area in the law."

Source: NBC17.com