My mum says I can't have my tongue pierced because It can be dangerous, she says that it can swell that you can't breathe is this true??

It's certainly true that a tongue piecing has a lot of potential for infection and things going wrong. Not to mention the damage that you can do to your teeth with a tongue stud.

There are a lot of bodyparts that I would be happy to pierce, but my tongue isn't one of them.

She's right in saying that it can be dangerous but if it was that dangerous they wouldn't do it. I've only seen one news case of someone suffocating after getting a tongue piercing and the guy took some form of oral pain killer to make the pain stop that wasn't advised, his tongue swelled up more and he died in his sleep but that's a very rare occurrence. You and your mum should sit down together and read through the internet about tongue piercings (pros/cons), explain to her why you want it and prove to her that you're responsible enough to look after it. I've had my tongue pierced since I was 15 and sure it hurt at first but its never caused me any problems.. no chipped teeth, no swallowing of ball/bar, no ripping or anything.

If I were you I would do what I plan on doing and waiting until I'm 18. But you definitely will have to be sure 2 take care of it