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Mum Outraged By Offer To Retouch Her Eight-Year-Old's School Photos

Mum Outraged By Offer To Retouch Her Eight-Year-Old's School Photos

The photographers offered two packages of 'retouching' for school photographs

Tom Wood

Tom Wood

A mum has hit out at a photographer after being offered two packages that included 'retouching' options on her eight-year-old's school photos.

School photographs are supposed to be slightly ridiculous and embarrassing, aren't they? It's something of a rite of passage to hate looking back at yourself during your education, isn't it?

Well, in these Snapchat-filtered and VCSO-edited times that we live in, it looks like even kids' school photo days are going to be artificially changed.

Not if Sam Walker has anything to do with it.

Sam is a British mum currently living in Arizona, and she shared a photograph of the price list for her daughter's school photos.

Here it is.
Sam Walker/Twitter

On that list, she could have chosen two (more expensive) packages called 'basic retouching' and 'premium retouching'.

The former includes blemish removal, and the latter promises 'basic plus whitens teeth and evens skin tone'.

They're eight. They're supposed to look blemished and a bit grubby, that's the whole point of being an eight-year-old school child.

Also, it's worth pointing out that children shouldn't be made to feel anxious about the way they look. There will be plenty of time for that when they're a bit older.

Why not let them just be kids, eh?

Sam shared the photo online and wrote: "The girls have their school photo today and there is the option to AIRBRUSH the picture!

"There are two levels offered!! What the....?! Have complained! What eight-year-old needs to be paranoid about an 'uneven skin tone'."

Sam was outraged, as were many others.
Sam Walker/Twitter

As you can probably imagine, the photo caused a bit of a stir with other parents who were similarly outraged.

The original tweet has since been retweeted 2,700 times and liked 11,000 times.

One respondent wrote: "That is genuinely shocking. I mean seriously. With the mental health crisis kids are facing they don't need this kind of message.

"I love the fact my kids' school pictures are generally awful. Isn't that the whole point?"

Yeah, it kinda is.

A second person said: "Absolutely horrific. Is a school condoning this by using the company??"

However, it seems as if this isn't completely alien behaviour. One of those who got involved said that their children's photographs had been edited without her consent.

That person said: "We got my daughter's school photo back when she was 6. She'd been airbrushed! Looked like she had makeup on."

That said, some folks think that this is totally OK.

One person pointed out: "I had severe acne in middle school. I begged my mum to do the retouch every year and she finally gave in.

"That was my favourite school picture. So, no it's not needed for an 8 year old, but keep in mind, this company takes pictures of older kids too."

Aye, but eight years old? That's not necessary.

Featured Image Credit: Sam Walker/Twitter

Topics: US News, Weird