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Friday, May 30, 2014

High school yearbook: Photoshopped images

Photoshopped Image  (MickStephenson)
When some female students at a Salt Lake City, Utah high school opened their yearbooks, they were dismayed to find that their images had been photoshopped.

Some who had been wearing tank tops when photographed now found themselves “wearing” short-sleeved garments.  Worse yet, the images of others wearing tank tops had not been meddled with at all.

ABC News reports that District Superintendent Terry Shoemaker thus far stands by this decision to allegedly “help kids better prepare for their future by knowing how to dress appropriately for things.”  Shoemaker's only stated regret is “that the school district did not edit students’ photos on a more consistent basis.”

Comments on this article indicated that many felt quite differently.  For example, “Mary” writes:  In this day and age of privacy laws, diversity, cultural competence, respect for the individual etc., the students and their parents
should have been notified of the changes school officials wanted to make, then give them the opportunity to choose another, more suitable picture. What if this had been an issue where school officials had changed a student's garb and it was an outfit based on cultural or religious beliefs/practices? We live in a country founded on a constitution and bill of rights that gives its citizens the freedom to choose. Maybe the school officials should take a civil rights course and review those documents.

It’s the age-old ethical dilemma:  where to draw the line between individual rights and societal standards…

Resources


http://gma.yahoo.com/blogs/abc-blogs/utah-high-school-alters-yearbook-photos-show-less-162608563--abc-news-parenting.html?vp=1

Copyright May 30, 2014 by Linda Van Slyke   All Rights Reserved


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