Apparently, the next generation of high schoolers no longer has to stress over the dreaded picture day. Erasing blemishes, whitening teeth, perfecting skin tone, lip shaping, eyebrow clean-up, and erasing wrinkles to name a few, can all be taken care of with retouching. While this may seem like a sure-fire way to be crowned Prom Queen, how far is too far?

Covering up the cystic acne that plagued your adolescent face seems like something previous alumni would have killed for, not to mention not having to hide your photos when your mother is trying to send them to relatives. A simple yearbook edit to allow people to remember your face and not your zits seems innocent enough but is contouring a chubby face to appear thinner going to extremes?

One victim of the Photo-Shop-eration, who had her face trimmed, lamented that “The new photo no longer even looks like me but rather a prettier twin sister,” and was outraged at the results. The students were told prior that blemishes would be edited out of the photo but the company proceeded to edit beyond what was discussed.

This incident has opened a dialogue on the extent to which retouching should be allowed and if unhealthy body image is being promoted. The school chose to use the unedited photos and reinforced the idea that their students do not need to be “corrected”.

[Via.]