Development & Interpersonal Relationships
個人成長與人際關係
Save junior secondary school students from falling into beauty treatment traps
助初中生免墮美容陷阱
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Our reporter's online investigation on ads offering "black market" plastic surgery  has revealed that some mainlanders are booking arrangements for illegal Botox injections in local hotel rooms. One of the clients was a girl from a local junior secondary school. In another case, a girl of her age was tempted into illegal sales of beauty drugs. Under the Korean fad  , more and more youngsters are attracted to beauty products. The authorities must stop illegal beauty treatment activities through law enforcement while educating youngsters to stay alert against falling into such traps.
The desire for beauty is human nature . Every person has the freedom to decide whether to receive beauty treatment , but only with clear understanding of the risks involved and ensuring safety to avoid being disfigured or even killed. Today, there is both good and bad information on beauty treatment online leading to many business opportunities. Some boast services that are "cheap, good and right" but they are actually illegal and harmful to health.
Beautiful mainland girls claiming to have lots of beauty treatment experience recruit clients online, bringing so-called professionals to local hotels for Hongkongers to offer Botox injection service. Our reporter saw a girl aged only 15 receiving such an injection. Moreover, some netizens run pyramid sale of beauty drugs, recruiting many levels of salespersons, which also attracted the participation of another 15-year-old girl.
Recruiting clients online and practising illegally in Hong Kong
These online businesses, seeing the people's need for beauty and money, boast that their products and services are safe, cheap and can bring big profits. If moved by these sweet words and hefty profits, young people may carelessly fall into a trap to pay the price of breaching the law and harming their health.
Take wrinkle-removing Botox with toxicity higher than that of a scorpion as an example. The law requires a doctor's prescription for its use and it can be sold only at a pharmacy with a registered pharmacist to prevent citizens harming their health through abuse. People claiming to be professionals come to Hong Kong to offer diagnosis and Botox injection services, which may be a breach of the law - practising medicine without a licence and possession of dangerous drugs. Being involved in the sales of such drugs is also a criminal offence liable to imprisonment.
There are health risks other than legality. No matter how the web contents boast safety and post many before-and-after promotional photos, it is difficult to determine the professional qualification of the practitioner who will go back to the mainland afterwards and become hard to trace in case of any incident.
A girl changes fast as she enters womanhood both in character and look around 18. The medical sector believes it is not suitable to provide plastic surgery to someone who has not yet fully developed like a 15-year-old girl. The reason is that distorting the development process like that may result in complications of creating an ugly person in future. Moreover, Botox is for wrinkle removal. There are no wrinkles on a 15-year-old girl's face.
Two-pronged approach of law enforcement and counselling needed to ensure safety and health
Some young men and women lack vigilance and knowledge in this respect, thinking that it is much cheaper to patronize such treatment than go to local licensed beauty services. As a result, they don't even know they are being cheated. To protect the citizens, the authorities are now enhancing regulation over the beauty treatment sector, but some cross-border services reaching Hong Kong through the internet may have already breached local laws. The authorities must step up law enforcement to deal with it.
Today, social acceptance for plastic surgery has risen, while beauty treatments are becoming more affordable. Youngsters pay particular attention to their appearance during adolescence to build up confidence and win admiration, so some beauty treatment websites often receive enquiries of whether parental consent is needed for having plastic surgery .
The girl student who received an injection is from an elite school. Today, schools try to counsel young people in establishing healthy concepts on drug abuse, sex, etc. As youngsters become more and more concerned about beauty treatment issues, schools should consider helping their students establish basic knowledge and proper attitude.
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