If a state institutes a policy of banning body modifications (generally piercings) in schools, they leave “young modders” with an unpleasant choice: cease to exist as modified people, or be expelled from the school system to fend in the world without an education. To take away someone’s basic right to an education over a piercing or tattoo makes a powerful statement: the government viewpoint is that we do not in fact own our bodies or have authority over them, and that the government holds the sole rights to dictate what happens to your body.