Let’s embrace our children just as they are, thank you very much.
School pictures are cherished mementos for parents, capturing fleeting moments as our kids grow and change. They eventually become tools for us to embarrass our children at their graduations and weddings. So, it’s no surprise that one mother was shocked when her eight-year-old daughter’s missing teeth were digitally restored in her school photo.
“Have we really lost our way when we start editing out an 8-year-old’s toothless smile?” asks Emily Carter, a mother of two, in a now widely shared blog post on her site, Parenting Adventures.
Carter had been preoccupied with her children battling chicken pox when the photos arrived. Upon reviewing them, she thought, “I didn’t realize she still had teeth when these were taken.”
Carter recalls, “I looked at her family photo and class picture—there she was, missing teeth and all, proudly sporting her gappy grin. At first, I thought they’d sent us last year’s picture, but then I scrutinized it more closely. Nope. They had photoshopped in what seemed like last year’s baby teeth.”
This falls under the category of “Oh, absolutely not.”
School photos are meant to be a little embarrassing—that’s part of the childhood experience. Kids go through endless phases, from adorable baby cheeks to awkward haircuts, and especially those moments when their mouths resemble a Swiss Army knife. Parents want to capture all of it, so they can reminisce about how their kids evolved into the unique individuals they become. These photos are our memories, and altering them undermines their authenticity.
“Although our school photographer recognized the blunder and offered new photos, I wrote the blog because it seems some companies do this frequently—and some even charge for it—which sends the wrong message to our children,” she notes in her post.
Carter believes the trend of photo editing has spiraled out of control. “She’s not embarrassed about her gaps and crooked teeth; she’s thrilled about losing her tooth,” she explains. “I want my daughter to look back at all her school photos and see her growth.”
Carter adds that her daughter finds the situation amusing, noting, “Since she was late to lose her teeth, she thinks the whole thing is pretty funny.”
In an update to her blog, Carter shares, “The staff member who inserted her ‘2016 teeth’ now understands it was a poor decision. It’s disheartening to know they’ve faced criticism in the past for not photoshopping out messy hair, bruises, or stains on clothes.”
In the blink of an eye, we will all be looking back on our children. Let’s cherish the memories of their true selves, awkward phases and all.
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Summary: A mother expresses her dismay after discovering that her daughter’s school photo was altered to include missing teeth, emphasizing the importance of capturing children’s true selves in their school pictures. She advocates for authenticity in childhood memories, urging parents to appreciate all phases of their children’s growth.