Randy Cassingham's Blog

Posted by Maarten, Netherlands on January 9, 2012:

For our senior yearbook we could submit any photo. Quite a few people submitted baby photos, some of cartoon characters that look like them, some of nicks or handles that they were bullied with during school. But then again, there is a committee to judge a yearbook in our case and that one looks if the picture is appropriate, the picture really is a statement of what a person has grown into. If that is a depiction of what one has always been bullied with or a real depiction of what one has grown into during high school, by enduring puberty, zero tolerance, bullying classmates, tragic losses of friends, depression and sometimes the very real feeling that the world might be better off without one more frustrated teen, it is a statement of who one is.

The whole idea of awards being given out to yearbooks is in every way as repressing as zero tolerance (imo), as it claims a false moral over the identities of individuals.

Posted by Kris in Alabama on January 9, 2012:

Unprofessional? Depends on which profession you mean.

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OK, I laughed at that one! -rc

Posted by Deborah, San Jose on January 9, 2012:

It's not really that good a portrait of her. The top is all wrong if she wants to show off her 'assets', since it does look like a black bar. She looks provocative, yes. If she really wants it in the yearbook, let it go in as one of the ads.

It also seems rather premature for an 18 year old to make 'statement'.

Posted by Laurie, Georgia on January 9, 2012:

A friend posted this yesterday -- more a reference to the artsiness of the pic than the statement/debate going on. I think that yearbook pics should be the classic head shots. This is not "yearbook picture" material. There's a vanity section, and if she wants to pay to put it in there, that's where it should go, because that's exactly what it is: vain. I mean, she's a cute girl, and if she wants to model, get head shots and glamour shots and do it the right way. No one gets scouted from their school yearbook!

Posted by Victoria, Maryland on January 9, 2012:

The mother seems to think that this young girl needs lots of attention and deserves the attention. A yearbook does not belong in your portfolio if you want to get into the entertainment field. And the portfolio shots (which this really looks like) do not belong in a yearbook. The girl and mom need some reality checks.

Posted by Michael, Florida on January 9, 2012:

Citing "freedom of expression" (which isn't in the Constitution -- it's freedom of SPEECH) is disingenuous. Claiming a freedom does not entitle one to impose what THEY want expressed on a medium they don't own or control. Example; it is not denial of my freedom of speech or the press if Randy should reject something I want him to print in This is True. It's HIS press (computer, email provider, etc.), so it's his call. At the same time, I'm perfectly entitled to exercise my freedom of speech and the press by using MY press (computer, website, etc.) to publish it myself if I so choose.

Posted by Dustin in CA on January 9, 2012:

The underlying question here is whether students have the right to have the photo of their choice run with no editorial oversight whatsoever. My opinion is: No, they don't. The yearbook is not the expression of a single individual, but the entire school. Student editors are chosen to represent the school and make content decisions. In this case, they made a decision that the photo in question was not in line with the standards they are aspiring to.

The lack of a "formal policy" argument is indicative of a major problem with society as a whole where the thinking tends to be, "If someone hasn't specifically stated I can't do it, I should be able to do it." Unfortunately, every boneheaded and/or crazy thing that might occur to someone to do hasn't been thought of by the people who act as the final arbiters of what should be allowed. I would like to think there used to be a thing called common sense, but my elders surely have stories from the past that would dissuade me of that notion. The volumes of laws and warning labels that have been written suggest the same.

Freedom of expression is another thing that people seem to misunderstand. The yearbook is a publication where a group of people has been given the task of deciding what goes in and how. If a similar situation occurred with the school newspaper, and a student's picture, article, or letter was declined publication, we'd probably never hear about it. I'll allow that there is a difference with a yearbook in that each student should have the right to have their picture appear in the yearbook, but that right is not absolute and an unacceptable picture should not be forced upon the yearbook's editors and the rest of the school.

Posted by Tom, Indianapolis on January 9, 2012:

I agree with Laurie in Georgia. Yearbook class pictures should be head-and-shoulder portraits -- the "bust" shot. I'd never heard of students being allowed to submit their own portrait shot back when I was in school. The closest anyone came was picking which pose to use from the three or more poses the professional photographer took on "school picture day," which were taken regardless, and whether or not your folks actually bought any prints.

Posted by Samuel, California on January 9, 2012:

As Michael from Florida said, this is not her property. She, as an adult, is entitled to express herself all she wants so long as she does not infringe on the rights of others. Yearbooks are the property of the school and the district and their content is not controlled by students. They are an expression of the standards of the school and should project consistency through the years. If this were a random picture taken of her while on campus then it would represent how she appeared on campus when she was a student there and, thus, a valid memory for her and her peers. As a yearbook picture she should be held to the same standards as the other students. She has always been free to attend other schools if this one didn't meet her requirements. People may be forced to attend school but they are not usually forced to attend a particular school. This young lady has a right to promote, at her own expense, any image of herself that she wants but she has no right to compel someone else to promote it for her. No doubt she will come to know this as she matures. Too bad the adults in her life were either too ignorant, immature or craven to educate her properly to prevent this from becoming an issue in the first place.

Posted by Peter - Texas on January 9, 2012:

Almost looks like she was photographed topless and a black mark was added later via photoshop. (a bad edit though)....