The class photo was handed out today. My son’s face has an emoji on it

"It's my fault. He wants to throw it in the bin."

A five-year-old boy is devastated because he was covered by an emoji in his official class photo.

After his mother’s attempt to protect his privacy online, and a series of miscommunicated messages with the school, the final photo makes his exclusion awkwardly obvious.

“It’s all my fault. Nothing I can offer or say will make him feel better,” the Sydney mum said in a Facebook post about it. 

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"Only one left out"

The mum explains that she requested the school to not post anything to social media featuring his face.

On his first day, they stuck to her request, sharing an image to Facebook of the class with her son photoshopped out. 

Then her mum guilt got the better of her.

“I felt so bad he was the only one left out. I called the school and told them I give them permission to show his face from now on,” she said. 

Image: Facebook/iStock

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"My son's face has an emoji on it"

Unfortunately, the school didn’t adhere to the change of heart, and didn't quite get her meaning.

The mum continued, “Today all the kids in class were handed out a class photo. My son’s face has an emoji on it." 

Not sure what happened, she's now at a loss on how to explain things to her child.

“He kept staring at the photo and even said he hates it. He wants to throw it in the bin. I feel so bad and so sorry for him,” she explained. 

Other parents commenting on the post were not surprised by the series of events, given the ever-changing online privacy landscape.

“Actually this is the school’s fault,” a fellow parent commented. 

“I don’t post my son on social media either but that would break my heart,” another empathised.

Some encouraged the mum to stick to her morals. 

“You should not have to go against your own wishes and consent to social media just to get a clean image of your son’s first day of school! That’s pure laziness!” wrote one outraged commenter. 

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Others said her change of mind was verbal which is why the school couldn’t comply. 

“It may need to be written also for the new procedure to be followed,” suggested one person. 

The mother reasoned that perhaps the teacher had misplaced the original image and only had the censored copy to distribute. 

“Hopefully she had a good reason and I hope she cared about his feelings,” she concluded.

Kidspot reached out to the poster for further comment.

Originally published as The class photo was handed out today. My son’s face has an emoji on it