A mother in the US state of Maryland has recalled her shock at being offered a digital retouching service for school photos of her child.
Jenn Greene, 43, said she was horrified to discover the service was offered to parents of kindergarten students.
The company, called Lifetouch, said it could “retouch” pictures for an additional $12.
The services on offer included teeth whitening, skin-tone evening and blemish removal.
The mother had wanted to get photographs taken of her 12-year-old daughter Madeline but “completely disagreed” with the idea that her face could be retouched.
“I’m going to need someone to explain why Lifetouch offers photo retouching for KIDS school pics,” she wrote on Twitter.
“What the hell? It’ll teach kids that they need to look perfect all the time and that they can change a perceived flaw with the click of a mouse.”
Green’s complaint comes after another mum, Kristin Loerns, received school photographs of her son Kieran in which his freckles had been digitally removed.
“I gave permission for ‘basic retouching’, which would be removing blemishes, and they removed all of his freckles instead,” the mum told The New York post.
Another mum, Whitney Rose, said her three-year-old son’s hearing aids had been digitally removed by a professional photo company without her permission.
“My son’s hearing aids were photoshopped out of his school photos,” she said.
“Is he okay right now? Yes he’s three years old, he doesn’t understand what it means.”
“Does it really matter if it’s edited or not? Absolutely.”
“How would you like it if somebody edited your nose off your face?”
“That’s kind of part of you. It’s crucial in your development.”
After Jennifer Greene took to Twitter, other parents expressed their disgust at the trend.
“Think kids should b able to see their scars, braces, or freckles. Why tell them these are things 2 b hidden?,” one person wrote.
“That’s outrageous! I’m an adult & never use filters on any of my pics,” another wrote.
“Kids are beautiful just the way they are & don’t need photo retouching!!”
Others had less of a problem with the idea and said photo retouching of children was “nothing new.”
“I did for my 7th grader, only because he’s breaking out this year and it embarrasses him,” one mum wrote.
“They did school picture retouches in the ’80s when we were in school,” another said.
“This is NOT something new at all.
“People want it, so that’s why it’s offered.
“Don’t use the service if you don’t want to. We never did.”
But for Greene, the retouching service sends the wrong message.
“It’s a societal problem that we think it’s ok to offer this to small kids,” she wrote on Twitter.
“Why do they need teeth whitening? Skin tone evened out? It’s much more than covering a blemish.”
In a statement to the New York Post, Lifetouch said its goal was to “authentically capture each child we photograph.”
“Photo retouch is an entirely opt-in service that customers choose to add on to photo packages,” the company said.
“Most, if not all, school photography companies offer this service and it’s an expectation as an available option for schools.”
This article first appeared on Over60.