I tried listening closely and from what I could understand all but one teen wanted surgery because he/she was bullied and saw themselves as ugly. They wanted to change the way they looked so that the bullying would stop. They couldn't afford surgery though. One way or another they heard about some foundation who donates these surgeries to children with birth defects...I didn't even know such thing existed.
Anyway, the way it works is you send in your letter, application and pictures and the group of doctors sits around a table to discuss your case. They evaluate you and look into how "severe" your deformity is and decide if you're worth of the surgery. It shook me. How do you tell a child if they are worth of something or not? In their heads they need this and their case is just as severe as the next. How do you tell them they aren't important enough?
Plus is the wrong message not being sent? Are we not telling these children that in order to be accepted they have to change themselves? I'm all for surgery on a child that has some sort of severe birth deformity like a cleft lip. However, to tell me that a child who is not happy with their nose or ears should have surgery to feel better is outrageous to me. As I listened to the head surgeon tell these kids he suggested a new chin or pinned ears I felt sad. Even the host mentioned how no this child who wasn't worried about x or y thing will be contemplating it because a doctor said it should be changed.
What is your real message? Are we not supposed to teach our children to love themselves for who they are? That looks are not everything? And is a nose job or chin implant really going to solve underlying issues the child may have? Low self esteem cant be fixed with a knife and some stitches. Fixing self esteem issues is about building the child up. Encouraging them of the positives.
Isn't this in a way building a path for our children to fall deeper into the roller coaster that tells them they are supposed to look a certain way? Act a certain way? Dress a certain way to be accepted? Let's teach our children about inner beauty. Lets teach them about accepting themselves and their peers.
Much love! Xoxo
