Plastic Surgery as a Solution for Bullying?

Should children get plastic surgery? How about as a solution for bullying? America's Holistic Plastic Surgeon Dr. Anthony Youn reacts to some kids' stories and gives you his professional opinion!

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[angeljohnson]

I grew up in Los Angeles. When I was a teenager, I begged my mom to take me to Beverly Hills to meet with a plastic surgeon. I wanted a nose job, breast augmentation and bigger lips. My mom said I had to wait until I was 18. By the time I was in my late 20s, I loved the face and body I was born with. I'm so happy my mom said no and that I never got plastic surgery.

[wmdkitty]

Letting your kid get surgery just because a few kids are teasing them is just reinforcing the bullies' message: that they're ugly and need to change.

[Vrjm]

I wanted a nose job ever since I was 14 years old. I finally got my nose done after college and I have never been more confident. I understand why some kids would want to get work done but people should wait until they are older to make sure they’re making the right decision.

[leliramos]

I can understand wanting to get cosmetic surgery for deformities or for an accident. But teaching kids young that you can simply change things whenever someone else doesn't like you in your natural state isn't a good thing ethically, we are designed to be different our bodies change and we evolve.

[Squishymushroom]

Maybe teach your kids to not bully others and it wouldn’t be an issue

[neurodivergentpixi]

This is so wrong. There's 8 billion of us. We're supposed to look different and have different features. We're not all supposed to look the same. That little boy's ears break my heart. He looks my son's age.

[sandydog]

I think I'd just make sure the minor understood that changing what they're being bullied about is not going to necessarily change how they feel about themselves. Plus, for bullies, it's not really about your nose or your ears, it's about making you feel bad about something you're insecure about. And that can be anything, and they may find something new after the surgery that you can't change. We see horror stories of celebrities chasing that good feeling via surgery and just keep chopping up their bodies, but it doesn't work because their body wasn't the problem. I think I'd make my kid--or at least heavily encourage them--to wait until they got out of high school and saw how little people care about your looks once you get into college and out into the world away from high school. I knew someone who told her daughter at age 16, "If you still want plastic surgery at 20, I'll pay for it. But you have to wait until you're at least 20." The girl ended up changing her mind in those four years. Not the case for everyone obviously, but your brain does so much growing at that age and it's something to consider.

[Mar-velousMarlenak]

It's absolutely horrible that bullies will push kids to have so much negativity towards themselves and self-confidence issues. Bullies are monsters, truly.

[NorseButterfly]

Yes, behaviors need to change. Schools have their "zero tolerance" in place, but it's rarely enforced. There are even instances where school officials and teachers are just as bad as the students who bully. I fought the schools for both my boys, and the only way we "won" was by them graduating. School can be a traumatic place that causes life long mental injury, and until society changes, nothing in schools will change.

[ellerj]

For the girl wanting breast implants, she should wait until her twenties. It's apparently common for women's breasts to grow a little more during their twenties. This happened to me and I was so confused as I thought my breasts were done growing in my teen years. I went from being flat as a board to now actually looking like I have breasts. I am very happy with them and wouldn't change them for anything.

[LunaTunaaaa]

I'd be so worried for the 17 year old who had the breast augmentation when i was 17-21 i had NO boobs and then suddenly one day i had so much. Your body isn't done developing at 17 and in the future the same could happen - i hope not so she can remain happy with herself but i feel like thats partly why its so important to wait

[bearswithglasses]

As a teacher, it's horrific that schools allow bullying to go on. School admin regularly look the other way because they don't want to rock the boat, and they just don't care. Schools should be sued for negligence if kids are ending up traumatized from attending school.

[Avamariap]

I definitely wanted a nose job as a little girl. I was in elementary school, and boys would pick on me and call me squidward, because my nose was “big”. I remember telling my dad I wanted surgery on my nose. I never had the surgery, I’ve learned to love my nose. I feel I’ve grew into it.

[carmyopteryx]

I had ears that stuck out through elementary school, now they are practically glued to the side on my head and almost invisible straight on. Kids go through awkward stages, they often grow into their looks. I also have a lot of issues with my nose and chin but realistically there is nothing wrong with them.

Bullying needs to be stopped.

[berf]

I was bullied for having a long chin and around 13 my parents had me undergo jaw surgery. They got it covered with insurance by saying it was a for function, and in part it was I guess. My teeth didn't match up(but the surgery didn't fix that). In reality my mom always hated how my chin looked and was very vocal about it. I wasn't too jazzed about being bullied for it either but as an adult I question it.
The surgeon also offered to shave the chin down and get rid of my dimple in my chin. I declined. I'm not sure what kind of surgeon he was.
It was a horrible surgery to go through. I couldn't eat food for 6 weeks. My face does look improved, less flat. I dunno. I was 13 and they cut my top jaw out and put it back in with metal bars and screws.. that's crazy. My mom will look at me and proclaim they did a bad job :/

[MsLinoi]

Honestly, as a child / teen, I was bullied for multiple reasons: my pale skin, my behaviour (now diagnosed with ADHD) the fact that I was bad at most sports (because of dyspraxia), acne, my body, even my dimples.

If I had gotten surgery, fake tan etc. I don't know if it had changed much, because kids find something else to pick on. I thinking the only thing that might help are switching schools, going to therapy, and telling those kids that what they're doing is wrong and a teacher actually acting when they see bullying.

[cynthia]

I’m against plastic surgery in children unless is like a deformity or an accident. I’m also against breast augmentation on women less than 18 years old. Breast augmentation can have many complications on the long run and the results are not always good. Also at that age you can be persuaded on your decision very easily and then regret having the procedure. Breasts come in different sizes and smaller breasts shouldn’t be seen as something that we need to fix. I had breast augmentation at 26 years and I explanted at 40. I regret having the augmentation and having them removed was the best decision I have made. Imagine having an augmentation at 16 or 17 when you still don’t know about all these things.

[Barnesi]

the thing is, even after they 'fix' whatever the bullies bully them for the bullies are just going to find something else. when i was in high school people made comments about my weight, so i lost it, and then they'd just make comments about my earlobes or freckles or literally any minuscule thing they could think of because the matter of fact was they just wanted to be mean in order to make themselves feel better

[charlottebarnes]

As a young teen, I underwent a reconstructive otoplasty (ear surgery). I had wonky ears, one pointy, the other rounded and slightly folded over, and both stuck out a lot. This was not due to any form of injury, but something I was born with. I was relentlessly bullied, and despite my family's best efforts, my confidence was so low that I was receding into a shell of myself (jeez that sounds dramatic, but that's how it was!). I'm 25 now, and I can safely say that I am so thankful for having had the procedure.
My ears suit me, and I bejewel them every day with lots of silver earrings. Don't get me wrong, I fully understand that if I weren't part of this society, and lived in a room all by myself, I probably wouldn't have realized anything was off and wouldn't have wanted to make the change. And yet, here we are... part of society, whether or not we want to be!
My otoplasty made such a huge impact on my confidence and personality, and not once have I regretted it!
Plastic surgery on minors is such a tricky subject... It perpetuates the idea that features have to be a certain way to be "normal".

The fact of the matter is, I have no way of knowing how I would be feeling about myself if I still had my wonky ears. I can only speculate. What I do know for sure, is that I am happy with who I am right now, and I am so endlessly grateful for that.

[sunflower]

A person isn’t even done forming their bodies, jaws and pallets until their late teens and early 20s. I know kids can be cruel. Trust me I have strabismus. But, unless it’s repair surgery, augmentations are a terrible idea until a person is fully formed and adult symmetry is achieved. Try therapy. A young person’s mind and spirit desperately need nurtured. Best wishes from Kansas 🌻