My only question is, why?
Why mess around with and poke holes in your body? What will it gain you? You risk infection but don't really gain anything...
Will it gain you respect? Probably not, as most employers will look at it as an unprofessional appearance, significantly hurting your chances in an interview and killing any chance of working in the business world. Is it just to look 'cool'? If so, that's, well, silly IMHO.
You can imagine that my answer would be not to. (And I'm about your age, FYI)
how do piercings make a person look freaky? i have two facial piercings. had three. not to mention my ear piercings. they are a personal decision done for a variety of reasons. there is no reason to stereotype people simply because of a piercing.
But there is no sense to expose yourself to negative stereotyping deliberately.
I could dress like a hillbilly and speak with a southern drawl, it would in no way lower my intelligence, but people would assume I was a moron. Yes, extreme example, but if you know that a number of people in the world negatively stereotype a certain appearance, and there were no positive sides to appearing that way, why would you deliberately do it?
People, who think peircings are bad, in a general statement, I think, are just uncomfortable with the fact that being unique (in this matter) depicts a bad person. My mother, for instance, thinks that people with peircings do drugs, get in legal trouble, etc., but she is sadly mistaken. Some of the most sincere and real people I know have peircings. I'm not saying that all are, it's just that people need to get over themselves and relize that people are different.
Before I state this, let me state that I am NOT against people being different. In fact, I am extremely different myself, having Asperger's Syndrome. I can't stand people that try overly hard to fit in and act like everyone else.
However, there is such a thing as the opposite; trying too hard to be different. Your mother is seeing the common stereotype (not necessarily the truth at all, but what many people will see). Myself, when I see someone with lots of peircing, I see someone trying to draw attention. It may not be true, but it's the perception I have; that the person is trying to call attention to themselves with these metal things they are running through their face. So it is a negative perception.
Now, knowing that many people have negative perceptions of peircings and view it as 'freakish' (as an earlier poster said), related to drug use (like your mom), or just a cry for attention, why would you want to open yourself up to those kind of stereotypes?