My parents were very strict and rather prudish,; pierced ears were frowned upon as 'tarty'. I didn't get my ears pierced until I had moved away from the town where /i grew up and where my parents still lived - I was 27! They soon closed up and for vanity's sake I went through the pain all over again a year later. My girls were both 11 when they had it done early in the summer holidays before secondary school, no fuss - just part of them feeling they were growing up.
Parents may not realise that having 'just' pierced ears means children have to miss P.E. at school. Children have to remove all earrings, even studs, to take part and it usually takes six weeks after piercing before they can do this.