Teenagers Should Not Undergo Cosmetic Plastic Surgery

Teenagers Should Not Undergo Cosmetic Plastic Surgery

Nowadays it seems that we live in an image-obsessed society where people are solely judged on their physical appearance. Everyone seems to be obsessed with the Hollywood celebrity style image. By sitting at home flipping through the channels of your television set, you’re faced with watching celebrities which seem flawless even almost perfect. Many people, mostly teenagers, look up to these celebrities and Hollywood figures. They see these idols of theirs which happen to have a “so called” perfect body and face and they want to have that as well. The growing trend of teenagers turning to cosmetic plastic surgery to change or improve their physical appearance is rapidly growing. Several reality TV shows such as The Swan, I Want A Famous Face, Nip Tuck, and Dr. 90210 are just some, not all, of the influences out there giving teenagers a greater desire to achieve a certain look through plastic surgery. Teenagers should not be allowed to undergo cosmetic surgery for several reasons. Many young teens are still developing both their state of mind and body. They simply are not ready to make a decision that drastic. Plastic surgery is a permanent procedure which will affect them for the rest of their lives.

For several people, their teenage years are some of the most difficult and awkward years of their lives. It’s a time of insecurities as well as wanting to “fit in”. It’s a time of wanting to find their place, wanting to belong. Many teenagers think by improving their physical appearance all problems will be fixed which simply is not true. Throughout this adolescent stage, teenagers must deal with many situations which cannot simply be fixed with plastic surgery. Some teenagers which are made fun of for certain physical appearances want a “quick fix” and turn to plastic surgery. This is not the answer. Sure it might make a person feel better about themselves if they like their “new and improved” look but issues must be faced and dealt with a different way. At that age, teenagers are still young and thinking “in the moment”. They simply are not thinking things through on how these procedures will affect them in the long run.

The number of plastic surgery procedures continues to increase rapidly while the average age of the patients continues to drop. According to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, in the year 2004 a total of 326,233 cosmetic surgery procedures were