Dan Walker, 43, revealed his outrage and shock in response to a tweet that showed a school photography company offering airbrushing services to primary school children.
He responded to a post on Twitter that showed a school photograph form that offered editing options to “even” the child’s skin tone and “remove blemishes”, something people branded as “absolutely shameful”.
The BBC Breakfast host was among those less than impressed to see what the photography company was offering.
He replied to the tweet, insinuating it would be damaging to children: “Utter shambles. Worst life lesson ever,” he said.
The original tweet came from award winning BBC Radio 5 Live presenter, Sam Walker who has young children aged 12 and eight.
She took to Twitter to expose the problems with society that deem airbrushing the norm and how it epitomises the campaigns people are pushing. She said children should not be “paranoid” about airbrushing at such a young age, or ever.
Alongside the image of the form, Sam wrote: “The girls have their school photo today and there is the option to AIRBRUSH the picture!”
“There are two levels offered!! What the….?! Have complained! What eight-year-old needs to be paranoid about an ‘uneven skin tone,’” she quizzed, bewildered.
The two BBC broadcasters received a hefty response from their followers who took to the comments section quickly to express their disgust.
“Right Dan – you’re in a position to make some noise about this. It’s abhorrent!” one user quipped.
“That’s absolutely disgusting!! Yes WTF ,” raged another, while someone else wrote: “Good grief. What an awful message to send to children. And from a school.”
“I am lost for words this is just so very sad,” someone else said.
Another user questioned “what have we all become” as society is become “absolutely ridiculous.”
There has been exceptional response surrounding beauty standards and body positivity, as people try to abolish and break down the stigma surrounding social media “fake images” and the need to appear “perfect”.
The social movement is rooted in the belief that all human beings should have a positive body image, while challenging the ways in which society presents and views the physical body.
It’s recognised that the culture of “fake” images on social media is one of the driving forces of body dysmorphia in young children, but even in 2019 it appears we still haven’t learnt the damaging consequences of offering this type of editing option at such a young age.
The Mirror reported back in 2015 about furious parents condemning photographers for a £6 altering option to “soften blemishes and facial lines, acne and even marks on jumpers”.
Parent, Alexandria Norman, accused the company of “stealing the innocence” of treasured school snaps and threatening a positive body image.
The mum was horrified when she was given the chance to alter images taken of her eight-year-old daughter: “This is taking the innocence out of a school photo and making them into modelling shots.
“It’s just a school photo – so what if they’ve got a spot? What sort of message does that send to our children about accepting themselves?”
BBC Breakfast airs weekdays on BBC One at 6am.
