Categories
Culture Fashion Editorials

A Controversy: Bullied Kids Getting Plastic Surgery For Free

We recently wrote a few articles on plastic surgery, beauty ideals, skin lightening and other similar subjects and in the research for all those articles, we discovered a very controversial issue that we decided to bring up on the blog as well: children getting plastic surgery for free.

For free. You read that well: for free. And the organization that offers free plastic surgeries for children doesn’t offer them too any children, their focus is on bullied children.

A lot of children and teens feel trapped in their own environment. Is cosmetic surgery the way out?
A lot of children and teens feel trapped in their own environment. Is cosmetic surgery the way out?

So here’s how it works: a child is being called names for whatever reason, his parents decide that if the child was better-looking the bullies would stop, so the child gets plastic surgery and the bullying stops. We usually like to be unbiased when it comes to this type of issues, but it’s hard to be so in this case. Just describing the process automatically places you on one side or the other.

One can argue that a child getting plastic surgery in order to stop bullying can be a good thing because this way the child will not go through abuse and terror and develop in a confident manner. But what message does this send to the child?

Doesn’t the child understand that there are some people who are “superior” to whom you should listen to? A child understands that the bullies are the norm, that they will hurt you physically and emotionally if you don’t behave or look a certain way and that you should not be strong and confident with who you are, but acknowledge a “war” and be the one who gives in.

That’s a mess.

First of all, kids have no place in a plastic surgeon’s office (unless they have some life-threatening issue or something that does not let them live a normal life) for either consultations or surgery.

Some of you might have been through this sort of experience, when as a child, you were told by the grown-ups in your life that the most important thing in life is the way you look. You won’t be accepted for your knowledge or talents, you will only be loved if you look good. And the biggest problem here is that you need to look your best not according to your or your community’s standards, but according to what people who don’t like you in the first place think is beautiful.

 

It’s a tough topic and in time we will see how this generation will turn out like.

We’re not saying you should not get plastic surgery, we’re all for it, but you can wait at least until you are developed. Just look at how much you change between the age of 7 and the age of 17. When you are 7, you should not go through surgery at all (even though sadly, some kids must go through it for medical reasons).

 

Someone was saying that she hopes that things like “taking fat out of our butts and injecting it in our faces” will be something the people who will populate the planet in 100 years will see as delusional.

That’s not what we think, but we do think we should learn more how to love ourselves. Plastic surgery is an amazing opportunity and it’s wonderful that we can do so much today, but it should be done in a conscious matter for yourself, not for others. The controversy remains open, whether kids should get cosmetic surgery for free or not.

There are a lot of voices on both parts, some claiming that we do need to look our best, because this is the reality of our culture, others say that it might be best to invest that money into education about behavior and psychological help. In the end, who says that bullies won’t call a child names for getting surgeries? It’s not the bullied kids who have to change; it’s the bullies that need to be attended in the end. The conversation remains open.

 

Fraquoh and Franchomme

 

 

 

 

 

P.S. What do you think of this issue? Should bullied kids get plastic surgery? Which side of the debate do you place yourself on? Share your thoughts!

19 replies on “A Controversy: Bullied Kids Getting Plastic Surgery For Free”

Thanks for your comment, Khloe! Do you think kids can make a decision when they’re so young or do you mean the parents?

I have to say I was absolutely shocked to read this. I strongly believe that plastic surgery is personal choice and we should not judge those that choose to have it. That being said, children are still developing and are not mature enough to make these types of adult decision. What kind of message are we teaching them about acceptance, self esteem and life? It’s just mind blowing that some would consider this a solution to bulling! There is always a health risk when going under the knife, no matter how simple the surgery ( procedure ) is.
Unless its life threatening children should not undergo surgeries.

xo, Jackie
http://www.stylemydreams.wordpress.com

Hello Jackie,

We’re glad that you take interest in this topic and are so clear about it! You are right, surgery is surgery, no matter if it’s cosmetic or not.

While I enjoyed this article, I wish it linked to the organization and examples of those they helped.

I remember there was that young lady (blonde) about a year or two ago who received otoplasty (which pinned her ears closer to her head) due to bullying. That one seemed to make sense, as your ears are developed in your teens. That being said, I looked through a list of plastic surgery procedures and I think the only other procedure that could even be applicable to a young teen or younger, is rhinoplasty (nose surgery). Breast and body procedures shouldn’t apply to young minors, since they have not had the time (literally) to acquire HUGE amounts of fat, overly large breasts or the need for implants. Sure at 18 they can do what they want, but I’m assuming this organization even applies to children as young as 10…12 – right?

That being said, our noses change and grow through puberty. Because of this, most surgeons would NOT operate on a young teen or even younger! While I agree curbing bullying with plastic surgery is appropriate in certain cases, I would love to learn more about specific examples and the procedures that were performed.

Great article and I agree with you, plastic surgery is a gift! My interest is piqued…off to Google I go! 🙂

Hy Jillian,

We’ve seen the case of the little blonde girl too. Do you know that she had her ears done, but the doctor suggested she gets more surgery, which is kind of weird in our opinion.

You have made a few very good points and we have to say, it’s great to have such input on our articles!

Best,

F&F

seriously now?
I would totally accept it for people over 21 although it will look fake, but kids? come on!
there should be a law against that … kids will grow up and change….
I will tell you something it is not the kids who are ugly , it is the society that needs a plastic surgery ,
the society that defines what beautiful is according to their standards,

if you have a problem sort it out don’t go around it, take a firm action toward bullying don’t blame the victim and make them go through a painful surgery that might work and if it did, we don’t know how long that would last, and seriously would the bulling stop? plastic nose, barbie , fake skin and all the other names the bullies could still call those kids?!

We think that it’s indeed that those who bully are the ones who need to take measures, not the bullied kids.

Dear PCAn,

Thank you for the comment! We agree, children getting plastic surgery is really a serious issue that should be treated with the highest degree of seriousness by all components of society!

F&F

Thank you very much for sharing, we are sure other elegantologists will like it too!

Your Comment and Input

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.