Year books: Who should be creating them?...

[artmom]

When I was in school there was practically a vote on who gets elected to run pretty much every committee. Which means that everything was run by the most popular people in the grade and the content was mainly focused on them and who they liked.
I remember my mom paid at the start of grade 7 for my yearbook, or school memories book that was created all throughout middle school by the elected popular girls. Out of those 3 years, the only picture in the book of me was a poor one, that was taken candidly, of me sitting at me desk slunked over, all sad and rejected, and my picture day portraits. I noticed there were a person or 2 that weren't even included in any of the event pictures. My mom was furious. After all, she paid for this as an extra on top of my other school fees, just to have me excluded and humiliated. She went to the vice-principal and principal who said that nothing could be done and that there was nothing wrong with the yearbook.
I no longer have this book. I ended up scratching out the faces and scribbling all over it out of anger.
As I'm older, and my daughter nearing the end of her middle school years, I'm wondering if anyone finds it fair that a school yearbook committee can be selected due to their popularity or if it should be based on whomever is interested, regardless of who they hang out with?

 

[TabascoNatalie]

Didn't have a yearbook at school, but had one at university. There was no elections, only a team of people who signed up for it out of interest.
There was, however, one problem - most events/social life was happening in the dormitories, and anyone who lived in the city were pretty much excluded.

 

[mom2many]

I'm trying to think that far back, I can't remember how it worked in Jr. High, but in high school it wasn't elected, you just signed up for it, but it was pretty hard to get into. Usually yearbook handled the layout and photography handled the actual picture taking.

If memory serves me right it was the more popular kids who ran it, but it was always overseen by a teacher. Sure a lot of the pictures involved the more popular kids, but to be truthful they were usually the most involved in various different school activities/sports. There wasn't a lot of pics of the less then popular kids, but there were candid's of them.

My kids never bought them, they didn't want them, but I believe their school has the same set up, we do have each one of their senior years but that's cause the school would give the left overs to my kids and a few others. I noticed my more active kids were in more candid's, amy less active weren't in as many.

I've honestly never put this much thought in it before, until now, I guess it's just never bothered any of us.

 

[cybele]

We didn't have them when I was at school.

My kid's school has a yearbook committee that anyone can sign up for, then yearbook editor is done the same way as the other leaders are done, they nominate themselves if they want to run for it and the teachers vote.

 

[page16]

We didn't have a yearbook either, I guess it depends on the school, or even the country. I didn't go to school in the US.

 

[TabascoNatalie]

I assume, in school, because they are children, stuff like this should be run, or at least controlled, by an adult?

 

[MommyEngineer]

When I was in school, yearbook was an after-school activity that students could sign up for and each student is placed inside groups that organize the yearbook and take the photos etc. I'm not sure if they ever had a vote within the yearbook group for like main editor or not. It was basically taught like an after school journalism class.