Should a teenager undergo cosmetic surgery if they are being bullied for their looks?

A leading surgeon has revealed he has carried out cosmetic surgery on schoolgirls who were being bullied because of their appearance.

Douglas McGeorge, president of the British Association of Aesthetic and Plastic Surgery, reshaped the nose of a 14-year-old girl from Essex.

He said he had also given expandable breast implants to teenage girls who were not developing at the same rate as others to prevent them being singled out by bullies.

'Unacceptable'

Anti-bullying charities said young people should not have to resort to surgery.

Liz Carnell, director of the charity Bullying UK, said: "I don't think bullying victims should be changing their appearance or anything about themselves to please the bullies. It is the bullies that have got the problem, not the victims."

Charity Beatbullying spokeswoman Sarah Dyer said: "We don't condone the fact that a young person has resorted to having surgery to change something that is unacceptable as far as her peers are concerned.

"We believe the only way to deal with incidents like this is through proper preventative work in schools, especially with the new term beginning.'

The British Association of Aesthetic and Plastic Surgery have responded by saying "These cases are extremely unusual and surgery is always the last resort. With careful counselling and carefully selected patients, plastic surgery can have an immensely positive impact on quality of life, but it is clearly not a solution routinely offered for bullying."

Surgeon Nick Parkhouse, a member of BAAPS backs up this statement. He says surgery has to be judged on individual cases. He says parents need to be very responsible and weigh up all the options and carry out the research responsibly.

Its Horrible that teenagers think this way, but is the way that society has become... sad...

There was bulling at school when i was there name calling etc but we got over it ,what is this world coming to ignore it and move on .