A high school in Florida is refunding families who purchased a yearbook with dozens of photos of female students edited to so they appear more modest.
The St. Johns County School District said it would issue refunds to parents who purchased a yearbook from Bartram Trail High School after parents and students complained about edits to 80 photos of female students.
“There’s a black box over my chest and the cardigan on the side like moved over and it looks really awkward and I was very confused,” a student told News4Jax.
The school district said refunds will be provided when the yearbook is returned.
The school defended their action in a statement to News4Jax saying “the digital alterations were a solution to make sure all students were included in the yearbook.”
On the website for the school’s yearbook, there’s a disclaimer that says images might be altered to fit the dress codes.
“All images in ads and all individual student pictures must be consistent with the St. Johns County School District Student Code of Conduct or may be digitally adjusted,” the disclaimer reads.
However, some parents believe editing the images send the wrong message.
“I think it sends the message that our girls should be ashamed of their growing bodies,” one parent told the St. Augustine Record. “I think that’s a horrible message to send out to these young girls that are going through these changes.”
Featured Image: Ben Ryan/ Twitter
