The Gang's Not All Here

The photo that broke a mother’s heart

Thandi Fletcher, The Province - June 14, 2013 (via Crazy Crip Girl)

I think "awareness" is over-rated as a word and as a concept. However, cases like this I think are very specifically about "awareness" … the lack thereof. Only the people there at the photo shoot know what actually happened, but I can easily imagine a depressing combination of harried, hurried teachers, antsy kids, and perhaps a subtly enforced lack of creativity and innovation … an adherence to "the way we do things" that stifled even the most basic ideas for including this cute kid properly in his class photo. Most of all, I suspect that it all hinged on the adults in charge never even thinking that maybe the kid would feel humiliated. He's in the photo, after all!

Also, there's this … the photo broke a mother's heart, but what about the kid's? Actually, my guess is that he's defending his teachers, wishes his Mom would just let it go, and is embarrassed by all the fuss. When he's 18 or so, he'll be angry in retrospect.