COSMETIC TOWN JOURNAL



Can Cosmetic Surgery Prevent Bullying?

Posted March 16, 2016

As hard as it might be to believe, many children have experience with something that is normally perceived as a very grown-up procedure. The procedure in question is cosmetic surgery. Many children that have undergone cosmetic surgery have not been suffering from a deformity or a life-threatening condition that requires immediate attention. A good number of kids have a cosmetic surgery procedure because they are teased by other children.

One prominent example of kids who have cosmetic surgery at a young age is the group of children who have rather prominent ears. Many parents decide to have otoplasty, AKA pinning back the ears, performed on their children to help cut down on the teasing from others.

Kids who elect to have otoplasty are just one portion of the children who have cosmetic surgery because of bullying from others. According to the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, the amount of young children and teenagers who have cosmetic surgery procedures has grown by almost 30% over the last decade. According to many experts, the increase in numbers is often directly connected to bullying behavior by other children and teenagers.

Cosmetic surgery is often seen as the solution to bullying problems suffered by many kids. The constant bullying can lead to more than hurt feelings and daily tormenting by others. It can also cause the bullied kids to have serious issues such as depression and lashing out at others.

Before deciding to perform surgery on a minor, the vast majority of surgeons will meet with the child for multiple consultation sessions. The purpose of the consultation sessions is to talk with the bullied person to get a better idea of how he or she feels on a daily basis as well as the type of interaction the child has with others kids that are the same age. Many surgeons have the potential patients draw pictures as a visual way to express feelings about their daily life with others in their age range.

While some people don’t have any issues with cosmetic surgery being performed on a younger patient, there are others who feel that plastic surgery performed on children sends the wrong message to others. They are worried that any changes in appearance will not solve the actual teasing and bullying problems. Plus, the experts opposed to plastic surgery on younger patients don’t want to give the impression that the person who is being teased is responsible for the problem and needs to make a change to fix the issue. These experts insist that the ultimate responsibility is with the schools as well as the adults who interact with the bullies and victims on a daily basis.

One other issue to consider before having a cosmetic surgery procedure is the fact that many of these surgeries are not covered by insurance. Many insurance companies will not pay for surgery if the issue is not a functional problem or a life-threatening situation. Even though many cosmetic surgery procedures are not covered by insurance, a good number of adults decide to go ahead and pay for the procedure. They often realize that a price can’t be put on peace of mind so they pay for the surgery to help their son or daughter have a happier childhood.

-MA

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