Class Picture Gone Wrong

Photo by Artem Podrez

School Picture Day is always a big source of excitement. It is always so cute to see the kids come dressed in their Sunday best, new hairstyles and smiles a mile wide. 

One student one year went ALL OUT. He wore a suit like what a ring bearer at a wedding would wear and had his hair spiked with hair gel. He looked amazing, and you could tell he felt amazing too. 

I couldn't wait to see how the pictures turned out when they came back about a month later. His individual pictures were so great. He looked so handsome and grown up. I could imagine how proud his parents would be. Then came the class picture... To my dismay, I was NOT happy with what I saw. He and another boy were making very deliberate silly faces and the camera had captured it ALL!

Before I sent the class pictures home, I showed him first and asked for an explanation about this as it was so out of character for him. He was mortified and said he didn't really want to do it, but the other boy had convinced him it would be fun and a great memory. It broke my heart to see him cry as he begged me to not send the class picture home to anyone.  He was so embarrassed. I told him I couldn't do that, but hoped he could learn to not do that in the future. 

Shortly after, his parents booked an interview with me at report card time. We talked about various things and then they brought up the class picture. I was unsure what direction they were going, but they said that he learned a very valuable lesson. They looked at it as a teachable moment and they said they had a great conversation about reputations and how you can give others an impression of you that is incorrect simply by making a poor choice. They knew that he already felt very badly about it so they had a very gentle conversation about it. They felt that in the end, he learned a great life lesson that will stick with him for years. I share this story because I was so impressed with how these parents handled the situation, and I told them that. They could have punished him or made him feel worse, yet chose to take the high road, tread softly and help him see that something good could come from even the most embarrassing situation if you are open to it.

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(Dana Romualdi)

Tags: class picture, cute kids story, life lessons, learn from mistakes