In my opinion, 14-year-old Nadia Ilse has always been a beautiful girl. But she didn't feel beautiful until recently, when the Little Baby Face Foundation paid for plastic surgery to pin back her protruding ears. I guess it would be hard to feel beautiful after years of being called "Dumbo" by kids at school. Apparently Nadia started begging for an operation way back in the first grade, when the "relentless bullying" began.
I don't blame her for wanting surgery, and, sadly, I think her fears that the bullying would "never stop" unless she had the surgery were valid. As a mom, I also understand why her mother contacted the non-profit Little Baby Face -- watching your kid suffer for years must be horrible. So on the one hand, I'm glad LBF stepped up and paid for the otoplasy. On the other hand, I'm not sure how I feel about the additional rhinoplasty (nose job) and mentoplasty (chin job).
The thing is, there was nothing "wrong" with Nadia's nose or chin. There was nothing "wrong" with her ears, either, except that they made her an easy target for cruel kids. In an ideal situation, Nadia would have learned how to love herself exactly the way she was, ears and all -- in your face, bullies. This was not an ideal situation, however (if ideal situations even exist). So the ear surgery ... okay, fine. (The majority of kids who receive free corrective surgery from Little Baby Face have severe facial deformities such as cleft palates, by the way.) But why "fix" features that weren't even causing problems? What kind of message does that send ... to Nadia?
I guess the most important thing is that Nadia is finally confident in her appearance: "I look beautiful, this is exactly what I wanted, I love it," she said. And hopefully the bullying will end now.
Being bullies, however, they might just find something else about Nadia to pick on, like the color of her nail polish or her clothes or the way she chews her food. Perfection doesn't protect anyone from bullying. Only self-esteem can do that.
Would you get your teen plastic surgery for an issue like this one?
Image via CNN
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Comments 82
And IMO, she will still be bullied. They will make fun of her for "needing plastic surgery!" They'll have a hay-day with it!
Her self esteem isn't going to last unless she learns that real beauty comes from within and we have to let the mean things people say roll off our back. All she's learned from this is that beauty is skin deep and every person should look a specific way in order to be deemed beautiful, not a positive message for young women or anyone!
i understand why they let her do it. but the fact is, she should have been taught at an early age that she was beautiful no matter what and to always stick up for herself. bullies find anything to pick on you about. i was picked on in school, i didnt ask to change anything, i fought back. and thats the way i am raising my chidren.
Shoot, I was teased all through school for being heavy (not super heavy like some kids today but I was always bigger than most everyone in my grade, height and weight wise) and yet somehow I never had the self-esteem issues from it. In fact i still have an abhorrence for plastic surgery unless its a serious issue like a cleft palate or burn scarring, etc. I can't say that I would know how to deal with my child being bullied by kids for their appearance, but hopefully I'll find the right words if it happens. I can understand the ears up to a point, but maybe Nadia should have remembered that Dumbo ended up a famous elephant who could do something extraordinary that no other elephant could do. Say something like that to the bullies and it usually takes the wind right out of their sails.