Now even girls of 11 are airbrushed – in their school photos
Girls face immense pressure over their looks and this is totally wrong – all a result of the Kardashian culture ANGRY MOTHER ANNA CLEMENTS
SCHOOL portraits of girls as young as 11 are being electronically altered to improve how they look.
Photography firm Cardwell & Simons, which works with more than 700 British schools, is offering to use Photoshop trickery to remove things such as blemishes.
But parents and campaigners have blasted the airbrushing service, saying it heaps further pressure on youngsters already worried about their image.
One mother, Anna Clements, said: ‘It is totally wrong. There is already immense pressure on girls over their looks and they face a daily barrage of photos and messages which tell them how they should look.
‘An airbrushing service sends out the message that if you’re not happy with anything about your physical appearance, then you can change it, and that is an extremely negative thing to be saying to children.
‘It makes them extremely conscious of their looks when they are at an age when they should just be able to be children. Essentially it steals their innocence.’
Ms Clements, a 48-year-old scriptwriter, was offered the chance to digitally alter the photograph of her 15-year-old daughter, Leila Faris.
She added: ‘I think it is all a result of the Kardashian-style celebrity culture where people are measured on how they look. Encouraging children to feel insecure about aspects of their physical appearance can lead to all sorts of problems later on.
Leila, who attends all-girl Davison High School in Worthing, West Sussex, agreed, saying: ‘Young people are already exposed to too many photoshopped images. School photographs should be natural. It’s important we’re encouraged to accept how we look and feel comfortable with it.’
Campaigners have often warned of the dangers linked to girls feeling judged by what they look like, which they say leads to higher rates of depression and mental illness. A recent survey found that a third of girls aged between seven and ten want to be more beautiful, while 40 per cent want to be thinner.
Sam Smethers, chief executive of feminist campaign group The Fawcett Society, said: ‘Women and girls face constant pressure to look “perfect” and even young girls feel that they are being judged on their appearance.
‘We should be doing more to help all our young people strengthen their sense of self and focus on their wellbeing rather than reinforcing the message that it’s appearance that counts.’
The Cardwell & Simons order form offers parents the chance to circle areas on the school photographs and state what they would like altered – for an additional £7 cost – to make them ‘picture perfect’.
But company director Linda Simons insisted they would not alter images if parents did not request it. She added: ‘We would only consider photoshopping a temporary mark on the face and would never change the shape of a child’s face.
‘Most of the requests we get are to do with clothing, like a stain on the child’s top or with hair being untidy or windswept.’
But she indicated that the company may axe the service following complaints from parents.
Southampton-based Cardwell & Simons offers ‘generous commission rates’ to the schools it works with, but Ann Scales, business manager at Davison High, distanced the school from the manipulation of images. She said: ‘We do not advocate photoshopping but feel it is not our place to stand in the way of a private arrangement between a family and the service.
‘We agree girls should be protected from pressure on acceptable looks and therefore have selected a photography service which does not use any airbrushing techniques on their photos before the proofs are sent out to parents.’
She added: ‘The prints that they receive are identical to the proofs unless it is the express wish of the parents.’