7-Year-Old Gets Plastic Surgery to Prevent Bullying

South Dakota mother put her seven-year-old, Samantha Shaw, under the knife to get her ears surgically pinned back, so that her daughter would not get bullied in the future.

By Barbara Maningat, NewsyVideos

SOUTH DAKOTA, April 14, 2011 -- How far are parents willing to go to prevent their kids from being teased and bullied because of the way they look?

Well, one South Dakota mother put her seven-year-old daughter, Samantha Shaw, under the knife to get her ears surgically pinned back. Samantha was born with "cup ears" that stick out and has a right "lop ear" that curled over.

But that's all gone, now. Samantha and her mother jet to New York City for the free surgery, fully paid for by a foundation that sponsors kids with abnormalities, the Little Baby Face Foundation. (Video from ABC News)

But Samantha isn't the only kid going under. The American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery reports a steep 30 percent hike in child procedures in the last decade.

Samantha's surgeon, Dr. Steven Pearlman tells ABC News he did the procedure because the development of self identity is stunted for kids with similar abnormalities.

CHANG: "But you're not suggesting that children get plastic surgery in order to avoid bullying?"

PEARLMAN: "Well, it depends on where you draw the line. If it's minor and if it's cosmetic, absolutely not. But in my book and most of the medical community, plastic surgery community, ears that stick out is not a cosmetic issue."

A Crosswalk blogger doesn't agree and says today's society is to blame -- for shifting the American Dream toward perfection.

"The Dream is 'no longer about seizing opportunity but about realizing perfection... [T]he career has to be perfect, the wife has to be perfect, the children have to be perfect...'"

A reporter for Pennsylvania's Fox-affiliate WPMT wonders...

"But what's next for this little girl? Is her mother going to be embarrassed that her breasts haven't developed like the other girls so is she going to put her under the knife again? It just makes me nervous. When you start, what's next?"

But a Babble blogger sees both sides.

"It's devastating to me that some kids, especially young ones, feel they have to resort to pricey plastic surgery to get other kids to stop bullying them. But on the other hand, I think it's idealistic or unrealistic to say that schools and society will be able to stop instances of bullying."

Samantha tells reporters she's happy with her ears, now. She hasn't said whether the teasing has stopped, yet.