Monday, November 13, 2006
Should teenagers be allowed to undergo plastic surgery?
“Should I allow my teenage children to go for plastic surgery?” Indeed, this is a question many parents would ask themselves as the advancement of technology enables us to undergo plastic surgery to change the way we look, at an affordable cost. It hence comes as no surprise that there is an increasing number of teenagers going for plastic surgery to look better physically as well as feel better psycologically. However, while plastic surgery may help to show one’s attractive attributes, it can also serve as benchmark to judge one’s level of self-esteem and self-confidence.
Some may argue that plastic surgery brings nothing but benefits to its patients. They point out that it enables teenagers to feel better about their appearance and that increases their self-esteem as well as boosts their self-confidence. However, this is not entirely true. While it is undeniable that plastic surgery would make teenagers feel better about their appearance, it would also give them a false sense of security as their self-confidence as well as self-esteem would be based on an artificial outlook that may not realistically represent who they are.
Others may also say that it is ultimately up to the teenagers themselves to decide what they want. They reason that teenagers should be responsible for their own choices and their consequences. However in majority of these cases, many of these teenagers may not yet be mature in their thinking, and of age. While it is true that these teenagers should be responsible for their actions and that it is part of their learning process, it is also important to realize that some decisions are still beyond the maturity of teenagers. If teenagers regret going through plastic surgery and would like to reverse this procedure, is it possible to do so? In some cases it would probably be irreversible. In others although possible, it is not that simple thing of putting it on and taking it off. Not only would it leave a mark on the teenagers physically, it would also affect them psycologically. Then, would the teenagers still feel that they are themselves?
Furthermore, in most cases, teenagers want a plastic surgery not because they want to look normal but because they want to look more attractive. Understandably, there are people who undergo plastic surgery because they want to be accepted by the society. Some of these people may have birth defects or had been badly disfigured in an accident. And they are judged unfairly by the society just because of the way they look. Some even do not have equal opportunities in employment compared to someone whose appearance is socially accepted. Hence, it is inevitable that they need to change their appearance to be socially accepted. Whereas almost similarly, for many teenagers who go through plastic surgery, they want to be accepted. Although this time not by the society but by their peers. They want that double eye lid and nicer looking lips because they want to be more accepted by their ring friends. Thus, one can want plastic surgery for the right reasons as well as the wrong ones.
Plastic surgery is also unsuitable, as many young teenagers have not yet been fully developed. Going through plastic surgery during physical development can be accompanied by adverse side effects. It can restrict and thwart ones physical growth. Some teenagers dissatisfied with their busts may decide to go for silicone implants, but they are unaware that they have not yet reached their full physical growth. In this case, the silicone packs implanted in their busts may become distorted as it has to make space for their developing bodies. In worse cases, these silicone packs may even leak inside the body and cause considerable physical side-effects. Such extreme cases are fine examples of the adverse effects of plastic surgery, which should be thoroughly considered and examined.
In conclusion, although plastic surgery holds benefits for the people who undergo this process, it can also carry with it just as many negative side-effects. Without a doubt, there are many ill side-effects of it which may adversely affect teenagers, and must be considered and weighed carefully before a teenager should be allowed or disallowed to undergo plastic surgery.
Specially published for Vickalyna Ho. Extremely relevant. Haha. Oh ya, please pardon any unusual sentence structure or writing styles in the essay. I wrote it a long long time ago, and Im posting the original copy here unedited.
Disclaimer: The author is not responsible for any possible loss in income due to not undergoing plastic surgery, should any individual be persuaded not to undergo the process after reading the article. The author is also not responsible for any possible mishaps should any individual be unusually persuaded to carry on with plastic surgery after reading the article.
All individuals are strongly advised not to make a stand on plastic surgery solely based on this article, as all opinions brought-forth in the essay are only that of the author's. Also, all recurrence of opinions are purely coincidental and are not intentionally copied.
If there are any problems, do not feel free to contact the author as he is not responsible for anything.
Alone in darkness at
9:24 PM
