In the 1980s and ’90s, I remember bringing home packets of school photos and cutting them apart to distribute to grandparents, aunts, and other family members. There were cute photo frames that looked like school buses with one window for each year so that a dozen copies of one child’s face, a year apart, could all ride together on grandma’s wall.
Now, we all post first-day photos on our social media (with cautious privacy settings!), and our teens take daily morning photos to post for fit checks. They could fill up a dozen bus frames before teachers even start talking about end-of-grade testing.
Does that mean it’s time to phase out school photos? These parents think so.
How Are The Photos Always So Bad?
Okay, as this poster points out, the cameras are digital now. The photographer could literally say, “Oops, your eyes were closed. Let’s try that again.”
Instead, we wait anxiously to see what it will be this year—eyes closed? Looking the other way? Somehow, did we leave the house with a shirt on correctly and get it turned backward before photo time?
Random strangers on the street who offer to take a photo for you with your phone will make more effort to get a decent shot than it seems like these folks sometimes do.
Green Screens And Bad Timing
Notice the date on this one. March 16th. Did this school forget what is celebrated on March 17th every year?
That’s right, St. Patrick’s Day — and one of the traditional ways we celebrate that date is to wear green. If you don’t, you’re liable to get pinched, no matter how many warnings the school issues about that.
So, of all the days of the year when kids are forbidden to wear green shirts, this school picked St. Patrick’s Day.
We’d love to see how those photos came out.
The Quality, Though, That’s What’s So Confusing
You can catch a better candid shot with a cell phone and get those printed at your local pharmacy for like 17 cents per copy. Okay, granted, the school will take pictures that don’t have your messy kitchen as the background, but for sixty bucks, you can put a green screen in every room of your house.
And photos are like everything else — prices keep going up. I’m pretty sure I remember teachers in the 90s telling us that we should urge our parents to buy because the cheapest package was under twenty bucks.
One Reason Those Photos Come Out So Badly
Here’s a fun idea. Let’s make a rule that you have to go to a place 180 days a year, where you’re required to spend the day sitting at a desk, surrounded by people you didn’t choose, who are also unhappy to be there, for 7+ hours per day, and then we’re going to demand that you smile while you’re there.
Also, this dad might want to remember one more difference — at least he gets paid to go to work. The kid has to show up, no matter how he feels about it, and even though we know he’s getting something valuable (an education) out of it, he probably won’t realize that himself for years to come.
Picking Clothes For The Back Row
As a short person, it took me a moment to actually understand this tweet. Oh yeah, tall people stand in the back, and the rest of us block most of their clothing from the camera’s view. No, I was always in the front row.
This does raise another really important point, though: remember not to send your kid to school in clothing that will lose context if only the top half of the shirt is visible. Examples include the shirt that says, “Crazy hair, don’t care,” but only the word “crazy” is visible in the photo.
Finding The Silver Lining
At least this dad found something positive about school photos. Even if the family doesn’t buy them, or if they end up in a drawer because the kid’s eyes were closed or he had chocolate pudding at lunch. Nobody reminded him to wipe his mouth, at least there was a moment when dad got to see his son looking nicely dressed.
Disclaimer: This does not apply if your child insists on wearing their lucky t-shirt or that hoodie you’ve been begging them to let you throw out. In those cases, this particular silver lining is null and void.
Photos Are Forever
Another problem with school pictures is that they will be unearthed in a few decades for your kids to scorn. And you know how funny-looking our parents’ old yearbook photos were? Yeah, for some reason, our kids think ours are just as weird. (It makes no sense; obviously, our generation was the ‘right’ one.)
On the other hand, if this kid has so much to say about his mom’s looks, maybe it’s time for her to talk with him about how genetics work and how much his and her face have in common.
Is This Really What We’re Paying Now?
Everything about our free public education is expensive! Supplies, field trips, and fees to cover Chromebooks. Now, it’s time to find the cash for pictures, too. Some of those photo packages can cost as much as $100! (Did I mention that your local pharmacy will print photos from your phone for small changes?)
At least pictures are optional, though. An installment plan on school supply costs would be nice. Oooh, and one for school clothes.
Upside: School Photos Do Showcase Personality
There will be plenty of kids wearing virtually identical polo shirts or school uniforms for photo day, but relatively few wearing their cat ear headbands, polka-dotted bow ties, or ladybug hoodies.
So if your kid is the kind to let his personality shine through even in the most posed and standardized photo, this is his day. His classmates will be looking back at those photos in their yearbooks for the rest of their lives, and he might just be voted ‘most memorable student.’
When Kids Are Denied That Expression, They Rage
This kid was so upset that she couldn’t be herself in her photos. Nope, sit still, look straight forward, and say “cheese.” Be exactly as unique as everyone else.
We’re wondering how much of those feelings she shared with the photographer and if she’s convinced her school to expand their photo package offerings to include options other than merely portraits.
Either way, as long as she can channel that rage into productive action, this kid has a bright future ahead of her.
This Dad Is Considering A Career Change
I remember an annual discussion at my school over whether the photographer looked like a popular comedian. There was also regular chat over whether the person visiting this year was the sort of person who grabbed heads and positioned them instead of giving directions.
I don’t remember ever discussing the pay grade, though, and it’s a safe bet that the majority of the cost of photo packages does not make it to the photographer’s hands. Nonetheless, this dad has a point: whether the photos are great or terrible, there’s a degree of pressure on him to make the purchase.
Prepaying Frustrates Parents
In the 1980s and 90s, we brought the photo proofs home to show our parents, and they made a decision. Now, many schools require prepayment before the photos are even taken!
How are you supposed to know in advance whether your kid will refuse to smile, or manage to spill ketchup on his collar at lunch, or otherwise entirely fail to cooperate? (Okay, to be fair, many of us can name exactly which kid we expect to smile, which one we expect to cross his eyes, and which one we hope to give a death stare.)
The One Day You Forget To Brush Their Hair
The school is going to send home so many reminders: one a week in advance, one the day before, and one in the newsletter or parent portal or whatever communication app they use.
And when we’re trying to rush to get all the kids to brush their teeth, find the shoe that was right there by the door last night, sign the permission slip that one completely forgot about last night, double-check math homework, and find the keys, we’re still going to forget. Who remembers anything before 8 a.m.?
It’s Actually Not Terrible Logic, Right?
We don’t know whether this dad remembered picture day when the bus was already pulling up or if the kid just flatly refused to comply with any pleas to change clothes. One way or another, the kiddo headed out wearing a shirt that was a little on the small side and not his best.
Either this will be a legitimate excuse not to buy photos, or it’ll be an excellent souvenir of just how hectic school mornings are and how attached his kid was to that particular shirt. Or maybe that’s all just a justification after the fact.
Parents Are Tired, Y’all
Didn’t the Surgeon General tell us that parents are collectively at our breaking point?
How are schools still trying to give us a list of special dress days, including picture day, to figure out in a week? Parents are stressed, and teachers are so stressed they’re quitting. It seems like a great time to just have a chill school year or two that nobody needs to get too worked up over.
Maybe this year we should make every day, including photo day, ‘casual day’ and collectively agree not to notice sweatpants and faded shirts.
Is That Even My Child?
One of my kids, now an adult, never believed in photos and refused to smile. I don’t think I bought a single one of those photos, and I have to admit I’d like to have them now.
If my kid managed to pull off “puff-faced old lady with a note of suspicion on her face,” I think I’d buy a set just for the novelty.
Still we need to normalize the idea of only buying the photos if we want them, not just because we feel like it’s an annual obligation, especially now while everyone is struggling financially.
The Other Option Is A Photo Still Wearing The Raincoat
There’s probably no way this will turn out well. Either mom is going to send her kid with a raincoat, and he’s going to refuse to take it off, or he’s going to refuse to wear a coat and take an utterly drenched photo.
Some of us have kids who would probably manage to dance in the rain between classes, and as sweet as that may be, it doesn’t really go well with either air-conditioned classrooms or photography. We all know that kid who couldn’t keep dry with an umbrella and hazmat suit.
This Kid Really Needs To Appreciate
One person in the world thinks you are beautiful no matter what, and that is your mother. (Okay, some of the moms in these tweets are exceptions, but still.) When your mama says you’re cute, you need to take that, wrap it up tight, hold it close, and treasure it, and I hope this kid does, no matter what she says at that moment.
Still, she’s at least a little right — no matter how good her photos were, her mom loves them because it’s her, not because of her appearance. And that’s a good thing.
We’ve All Seen The Ads He’s Talking About
There’s a point in childhood where kids seem to develop a temporary allergy to hairbrushes, and this kid at least has a reason he can articulate. After all, if he brushes his hair, he might look as tidy as a kid in a clothing ad.
Maybe moms should remember this when they worry about how the photos came out—our kids might not look like a J.C. Penney ad, but they look exactly how they chose to look. And maybe we will really look back on those old photos and smile at the memory.
The Guilt Will Do It
Another parent has noticed that the photos they take with their phone are often way more admirable than the ones the school photographer provides. They could take their photos to document their child’s development and growth instead.
Still, the school photo pack sells every year, whether it’s because of tradition, because parents feel like they must purchase, or because it’s the one time of year there’s a guaranteed tidy sit-down photo. Maybe it’s just because they’re convenient and regular.
It’s Really A Lot Of Prep Work For A Single Photo
You know that if you keep up with the calendar, remember the date, and layout something sweet and nice-looking for photo day, it will be the day your kid spills breakfast. Then you’re scrambling to find appropriate clothes all over again.
Most parents find that the morning is already a sprint, so adding an extra obligation or two just makes it a full-length marathon.
Then you get to wait all day to see if the kid comes home still looking pretty tidy, and cross your fingers that the photo will be okay.
Another Photographer Fail
You don’t have to be a professional photographer to take excellent photos. Some parents have chimed in that, with the ability to take many pictures of their children on an iPhone or Android phone, they have captured higher-quality photos than the school offered.
Throw in the prepayment we discussed earlier, and many parents are choosing the simple iPhone option over expensive back-to-school photos.
Nobody Is Telling Your Kid To Focus And Behave And Time Is Limited
One reason for this is that the photographer has to take pictures of a few hundred kids in the length of a school day and has only a minute or two to devote to each one. Meanwhile, a mom can set her baby up in a scenic setting, pose her, and get the exact image she’s looking for, and spending fifteen minutes on it doesn’t seem so long when it’s only one kid.
Kids also probably cooperate more with their parents than — hey! Stop laughing! Some kids might cooperate! Maybe.
Even Practicing Doesn’t Necessarily Make Perfect
Cotton candy! Why didn’t we think of that? Seriously, a stack of little singe-serving cotton candy tubs, one for every kid who smiles for the camera, stacked in an impressive pyramid off to the side behind the photographer. That could absolutely reduce the number of stoic or grumpy faces in the yearbook.
It would work better, if nothing else, than a photographer attempting to make jokes and repeating the same line for every kid. Sometimes, it’s hard to smile on cue — but everyone smiles for cotton candy.
Kids Can Be Seriously Cruel
Whoa. Nobody’s smile ruins a class photo, and what an awful thing to say. We can hope those kids are looking back now and wishing they had treated their classmates with more kindness.
If your childhood experience was that photo day was an event for bullying, though, it’s no surprise that you’d have some feelings about the practice as an adult. These days, schools have zero-tolerance policies for bullying, and even though we’ve all witnessed that those aren’t super effective, at least they might subvert some of the more overt behavior like this.
School Picture Day Comes Up Fast
We all just spent approximately our life savings to get these kids new shoes, clothes that fit, and umpteen boxes of tissues, Clorox wipes, sticky notes, index cards, and sandwich bags, not to mention paying technology fees and whatever else was necessary for the first week of school.
How is it already time for school pictures? The kids have been in classes for only about two weeks! These photos will be a time capsule of how our babies looked at the beginning of this grade. Next up: a costume day for Halloween, book fairs, field trips, and more.