Thanks to the technology boom and the fact that nearly every American has a smart phone at their disposal, children are growing up today in a social media–obsessed and technologically savvy world. Gone are the days of learning to do math on your fingers or reading a hardcover book—there’s an app for all of that.
But not every app out there that’s geared toward children is educational, or even a fun way to pass the time. According to a report from The Telegraph, some plastic surgery apps are being marketed directly to children now and are being slammed by childhood experts as a result.
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In the Apple app store there are quite a few free apps that entice children to download the games due to the bright colors and high-tech graphics that encourage kids to surgically alter and enhance the body. Just a few of the surgeries you can choose from include facelifts, nose jobs and liposuction in games like Mermaid’s Plastic Surgery, Plastic Surgery Simulator and Plastic Surgery Princess.
The Butterfly Foundation, which is based out of Australia and works toward creating a healthy body image in children, has reached out to Apple and asked that the games to be removed, according to The Daily Telegraph. The foundation’s education manager, Danni Rowlands, calls these apps “incredibly damaging” and says, “Marketing cosmetic surgery to children is harmful and wrong. To encourage cutting into a face, for an adolescent with mental health issues, is dreadful!”
