Plastic surgery for graduation gifts???

I think it sad that people seem to think that plastic surgery will change their lives. They seem to forget that they are still the same person inside, and if they don't like themselves, surgery isn't going to change that.
I really think that it should be called what it is Vanity surgery and leave Plastic surgery for people who need it like burn victims.

I remember I asked my mom for a nose job for my high school graduation! I went to one of those rich hoitey toitey high schools where everyone seemed perfect on the outside! My mom said she would think about it, knowing I would change my mind (which I did when I found out what it cost and saw how it was done) I think I would be embarrassed by people asking me questions about it and having to answer why I felt the need to change... It would be a physical trait that everyone knew I was insecure about! My nose has been broken a few times and sometimes it is hard to breathe so I wanted my hump knocked down! I guess Im glad I didn't go through it because it would have changed the way I look, and even though I hate my nose it keeps me unique instead of plain and ordinary! No I do not think it is a proper present unless it's something done to fix complications! Alot of girls I went to high school with got boob jobs for graduation... Yeah and I live in Wisconsin... not LA or NY!

I think plastic surgery should be an option out there for those who need it (medical resons) and those who want it (cosmentic reasons)

However, for people to feel pressured to have it is bad and giving it as a graduation gift reinforces the expectation that people should to have it.

Ehhh...at least they are now waiting until 18.

when I was in HS, the average age of a nose job was 16...that was the sweet 16 present. That was Michigan...

Maybe save the money for college tuition?

You'd think that with the obnoxious amount of debt most students rack up in college...

And if you have that much money to burn, maybe give some to charity. Example the Herbie Fund which helps ill and disfigured children get medical care in Canada. http://www.sickkids.ca/international...+Fund&sID=9303

Thank you for that... I will most likely need a face lift in my late 30's early 40's due to an injury I had as a child. The right side of my face is droopy and will need to be corrected.

As for giving plastic sugury as a gift for an 18 year old I think that I'd like to see the reasons behind it. When I was in high school there was a girl who was given the worst nose I've ever seen. After she had it done she felt more confident and better about herself. It was the best thing she could have ever done for herself.

I'm all for plastic surgery. Heck when someone works out and loses weight everyone congratulates them, but when someone saves up and gets plastic surgery people look down at that. OK you can say its for health reasons, but come, most people do it for vanity. I vote yes to plastic surgery..

Well I think anything like that should be for ones own sake not to prove anything to anyone, do it to make yourself feel better. DON'T do it to think that it will change your whole being.
A freind of my Daughters witch I have known sence she was about 15 finally had gastric Bypass she has lost over 200 lbs but she looks awlful, now has an addiction to pain meds and shes a mes Her personality went from the life of the party to being borning and blank. I think its sad that people think it will make your life better, it doesn't bigger boobs won't make you feel more important either. I don't understand why it is that alot of people think they need to be perfect HELLO there is no such thing.

If my daughter asked me for plastic surgery for graduation, I would scream my bloody head off...There is no way in heck I would consider it..People need to start liking themselves for who they are.....BTW, my daughter only asked for assistance decorating her college dorm room for graduation..

Ain't no way in ****, that I would ever give that as a gift.

I think that at 16 or 18 you're ind of standing at the threshold of your life...those years, I imagine between 16 and about 24 or so for most people are probably some of the most highly formative years of a person's life...in those years they become adults. It's no secret that these years see a lot of personal turmoil and you go through a lot of self esteem peaks and valleys...moreso I think than when you hit your mid 20's and beyond.

So, why is it appropriate for these people to get plastic surgery? They're just BEGINNING to be capable of making big decisions, committing to those choices and their consequences and really OWNING their actions. They think it will be a quick fix, that they will feel better on the inside by changing the outside. I don't think its entirely that easy, especially when there's so much uncertainty about where you'll be in 5 or 8 years and what lifelong pursuits you'll start.

I think when you're at home in your own skin and you feel confident in the permanence of your actions....then go for it. Be an adult and decide on what is best for you. People who have just graduated high school are generally a very uncertain and terrified people....they can and probably should wait.

I think the greatest gift we can give young people is to help them with self-acceptance. Young women especially (although young men get it too) are measured by how they look. Older women feel bad when they begin to look like older women.

I often wonder what the women of the world could accomplish if we weren't always judging ourselves and other women by some insurance scale or media's idea of what is perfect. I have worked a long time trying to get out of that mode. It is so ingrained and accepted that women should talk crap about how other women look. I try, when one of those thoughts enter my head to immediately counter it with something positive that has nothing to do with appearance.
I find when we begin to accept ourselves "just as we are" right now, we become less harsh with others.

So as for giving plastic/vanity surgery to a young person, heck no! Give them a trip of a lifetime instead or a chance to work in another country. Anything but this.

Oh, and I am going to Fat Girl Speaks again to celebrate my fat self

It's all well and good for me to say that people should just accept themselves the way they are. I don't have any disfiguring scars or birthmarks. I'm reasonably attractive. I'm (a bit unreasonably) well-endowed. Yeah, I'm overweight, but that's something I can fix about myself on my own, without surgery. You can't grow bigger boobs (or shrink the ones you have), make your nose straight, or smooth out unsightly scars. Medical science can.

We also tell each other to be happy the way we are, but we get piercings and tattoos, we dye our hair, we straighten and whiten our teeth, and we use make-up, skin creams, fad diets and firming/shaping undergarments. While none of that (or most of that) isn't permanent, it's still a change we make to ourselves on a daily basis that suggests that while we say we ought to be happy with ourselves the way we are, we're anything but.

I used to do filing for a plastic surgeon, and while a lot of what he did could be considered purely cosmetic or "vanity" surgery, I could see the motivation behind the surgeries. While I agree that we shouldn't be so hung up on our looks and that people -- women especially -- need to learn to accept themselves as they are, the fact of the matter is that society doesn't really work that way. Attractive people make more money than unattractive people. It's easier to fit in when you're pretty (or at least when you're not ugly). What if you suffer a disfiguring injury? Or a birth defect? Or you're painfully aware of how very, very flat-chested you are? (Or are not.) If changing this one thing about yourself will make you happier, I don't see why you shouldn't be allowed to do it. The problem comes in when you aren't any happier and keep finding more and more things to change about yourself.

Part of me does kind of wince at the idea of thinking that people at the age of 18 aren't old enough to know what they want, though. 18 is old enough to vote and old enough to die for your country -- those are both pretty big decisions to make. If you're old enough to decide that you're willing to place your life on the line for your country, you're old enough to decide that you want bigger boobs. Either you're old enough to make important, life-altering decisions, or you're not.

That was actually very well put... Had to comment

That is very well put. I just don't know if it should be a "present or reward" for someone. If an 18 year old (or really any age) sits down with their parents and between them decides that this is a good idea, then all the power to them. It isn't something I would choose or want my children to choose, however.