Cosmetic Surgery To Avoid Bullying

         Have you ever been teased or made fun of? Have you ever wanted to change something about yourself? Have you ever thought about having surgery to fix the things about yourself that you do not like and get teased about? Well that is what more and more teens are starting to do, to avoid bullying. In 2007, around 90,000 teens underwent cosmetic surgery. The most common procedures were nose jobs, breast reductions, breast augmentations, ear tucks and Botox.

         You might ask, What causes many of these teens to want to have surgery? The answer to that question is bullying and low self esteem. One in five high school students are bullied every year. One in twenty students miss school to avoid bullying. The question that many people are asking is if this is a good way to deal with bullying. One surgeon likes to make sure the issue of bullying is taken care of before performing surgery. He also makes sure the teen is mature enough. On top of that he advises many teens to what to make the decision until they are adults. Many people believe this is not the way to handle bullying. A majority of bullying happens because the bully has low self esteem themselves and it is a way for them to make themselves feel better. The bullying usually wont stop just because the teen being bullied changes the thing about them that they get made fun of. 

         In an ABC News report two teenage girls talked about there experience with bullying and cosmetic surgery. One was a high school senior, Erica. When she was growing up she was made fun of for having a big nose. It got so bad that she would miss school and she tried to brake her nose by banging her head against the wall. This was all because she was so fed up with the bullying. Her mother saw that it was a big problem and decided to let her have plastic surgery on her nose at the age of 15. Her and her both feel like it was a good thing because it allowed her to feel good about herself and feel beautiful.  

         For me I do not know if I would be willing to go that far to change something about myself but that is just my personal belief. I believe bullying effects people in many different ways and for some people they believe the way to solve that is to get cosmetic surgery. I do worry about teens getting it done so young. I do not think if I was a mother I would let my 15 year old daughter have plastic surgery. I think having cosmetic surgery is something that should be thought about and researched before actually doing it. I agree with the doctor in the interview that said he feels like teens should wait until they are adults to make that decision. I feel this way because the thing they might have wanted to change as a teenager might not be as big deal as an adult.