In the past few years, stories of extreme bullying have captured the attention of the public and the larger issue is being noticed and addressed by concerned citizens. In some of the most tragic cases, children and teenagers have committed suicide as a result of bullying. Kids can be extremely mean in school, and if someone gets teased because of a particular physical characteristic, it can really take a toll on one’s self esteem and emotional well being. Many times, bullying is done out of jealousy, and not because there is anything wrong with the other person, but simply because the bully is jealous for whatever reason.
Recently, the news has covered a story about a 6 year old girl named Kendall who had a prominent mole on her chin. Even in preschool, curious children would ask to “touch it” and ask what it was, making Kendall feel extremely self conscious. Kendall’s mother reported that even other parents would stop her in public places and tell her it looked like there was chocolate on her daughter’s face and to “wipe it off.” In desperation to protect her daughter, Kendall’s mother opted to have a mole removal procedure to avoid further teasing and unwanted attention that could potentially cause a negative psychological effect on the young girl.
According to many news outlets, the most popular cosmetic surgeries that children and teens are having done are otoplasty (ear pinning), rhinoplasty (nose surgery), mole removal, and scar revision procedures. Another example of a young child who was bullied for her appearance is Olivia, a 7 year old girl who was teased constantly about her ears to the point that she had to drop out of a dance class. She ultimately went under the knife to have otoplasty, or ear pinning surgery, and is now apparently “thriving” and back to dancing.
As actress Lisa Kudrow has stated, her rhinoplasty surgery was “life altering” when she was 16 as she had previously received negative attention and bullying from classmates, but after having the surgery she felt so much more confident and a lot of the bullying stopped.
Of course, the larger issue in our society is bullying, and people learning to accept one another for their uniqueness and cut down on the negativity that can lead to serious bullying. As we have heard from the above cases, surgery can really help young people to feel better about themselves, and can potentially help eliminate some of the bullying. Maybe our standards of beauty and perfection are too unrealistic, but it is good to know that there are some surgical solutions that can help someone (especially a child, while they are young and developing their self image) gain confidence, and ultimately feel better about themselves.
If you know of anyone who is bullied about their physical appearance, and would like to schedule a consultation with an experienced physician about potential surgical or cosmetic options, reach out to the experts at Kalos as it is always our primary goal to help people feel their absolute best.
