Momtroversy: Should you retouch your child's school photos?

Moms and experts weigh in on the practice.

September 11, 2019, 11:11 PM
A girl sits in front of a canvas in an undated stock photo.
A girl sits in front of a canvas in an undated stock photo.
STOCK/Getty Images

The social-media savvy mom of today very likely uses a filter, or Facetune or at the very least a light edit before posting a photo of herself.

And it's possible she may use those same skills when posting a photo of her kids too.

But what about those yearly school photos? You know, the ones you look back on of yourself and cringe at? The hair, the teeth, the pimples. What if you could erase those imperfections?

You can't go back and do it for yourself, but you can for your kids. Life Touch, the company responsible for the majority of school portrait photos in the U.S. offers two options: For $8 you can get "basic retouching" which removes blemishes. For $12, you get "premium retouching," which whitens teeth, evens skin tone and removes blemishes and scars.

Kristine Boel, a mom who is also a photographer, said "school photos [are] supposed to represent a time in moment, their life captured as it is... sweet, ugly, awkward, bruises, teeth missing, crooked ponytails and all. I know I love my funny and super real photos from my time in school. It brought so much fun out of just looking them over years after. I also feel it’s important not to mess up with our kids self image. They can see if we edit a photo of them."