Let’s talk about school picture days.

For some people, they are a source of sometimes extreme stress. Depending on what grade you’re in, you might see instances of this on school picture day.

You’ll hear complaints: “My hair is hideous!” “How do I look?”

You will see portable makeup kits coming out; you’ll see phones out of pockets as people desperately analyze their faces down to the microscopic level, and you’ll notice outfits that you’ll never see for the rest of the year.

My 7th-grade sister had her picture taken a couple of days ago, actually. I don’t remember much, but I do remember that the night before the “big day,” she had already set aside a special outfit that she had prepared a few days in advance. She woke up super early to ask Mom where it was, and then she hogged the bathroom for half an hour.

Don’t think that anecdote is implying that only girls are subject to photo day stress, either. This is applicable to boys, too. Sure, the lot of you will say something along the lines of how you don’t care or you wanna get this over with.

And maybe some of you do think like that. But to the few guys in the bathroom who brought a plastic comb, hey, I see you.

As for me?

I don’t think it’s all that deep.

Image Credit: Tong from Pexels

Why Are School Picture Days So Stressful?

Okay, okay, hear me out. It’s important to you, yeah, but should it be?

School picture days are a big source of stress. The main thing is that people wanna look good, obviously. It could be a bad day for a photo.

You might’ve forgotten it was school picture day. It might be laundry day, and all you have to wear is your Sesame Street shirt that barely fits you.

The worst part is, you could be as photogenic as can possibly be, but the guy working the camera might still make you look like an oversaturated beetroot. Kaitlyn Tiffany (super cool Vox reporter) actually wrote an article on it. As she puts it, “The best photo ever taken of me was taken by a student portrait photographer when I was in third grade…I’m wearing a shockingly normal shirt in a flattering red-orange, I’m smiling like a person who has control of her face, I look self-possessed and happy…”

Photos seem to always look better when the person is in their natural habitat, anyway. Personally, my favorite photos of myself are ones people have sprung on me or taken out of the blue, rather than the guy that made me look like an oversaturated beetroot (alright, I’ll admit it, I’m a bit sour about that. Worst picture ever).

Photos seem more genuine when you're not explicitly preparing for them.

Image Credit: Cottonbro Studios from Pexels

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Why Shouldn't You Be Stressing Out?

Even with the threat of looking bad looming over students and staff, there are always retake days. Most schools have those, and I always see kids flocking to those events.

Besides, school pictures don’t really even crop up in your life that much. Okay, it’s part of your permanent student record, but when was the last time you heard an adult mention their permanent record? That’s right: never.

Perhaps something you'll find more important than your permanent record would be your elementary/middle/high school yearbook, and, yes, that's checked more often by others than your permanent record, but even if it's a bad photo, the embarrassment doesn't last long, anyway. Heck, I'd bet the lingering awkwardness will fade within a day or two, maybe even hours, depending on how much you cared about that photo.

And hey, if anyone’s ever read Big Nate, you’ll have learned that maybe looking like a monster from The Thing isn’t so bad. It often leads to hilarious stories, although whether you’re the one telling it or not may depend on the situation.

So go out there. Take your picture, whether you look like a movie star or a mental asylum escapee. Stand on those little red footprints, look into that camera, and say cheese.