Joe Keo/YJI
The Tattoo is a newspaper that appeared in print from 1994 until 2006, publishing the work of teens from Connecticut initially but ultimately from across the globe. It went online in 1996, the first website devoted entirely to student journalism, and remained online continuously until November 2015 when its provider pulled the plug. Between 2017 and 2019, we republished nearly all of the work on this site. You can find all if it here.
You can also see it as originally published by checking out The Tattoo in the vastly important internet archive.
This link appears to have at least the bulk of The Tattoo’s website archived and preserved: CLICK HERE.
They can also be found here and here and here.
Here are some direct links to some of The Tattoo’s most popular stories and features:
Hurricane Journal by Samantha Perez, a series of pieces laying out one high school senior’s odyssey in the wake of Hurricane Katrina
Journals by Zach Brokenrope, columns showing slice of life in rural Nebraska
Insider’s Guide to High School, by many students, offers advice about surviving high school
Teen suicide, by many students, offering a wide-ranging series of stories about the topic.
Writer’s index, with links to all of their stories.
Awards won by Tattoo writers.
In addition, you can read many of the published pages by The Tattoo that were preserved as PDFs. Here is a complete list of what we have:
VOLUME 5
VOLUME 6
VOLUME 7
VOLUME 8
VOLUME 9
VOLUME 10
VOLUME 11
VOLUME 12