School Pictures

My two youngest kids came home from school last Friday afternoon.  That, in and of itself, is nothing out of the ordinary.  In each of their backpacks was a surprise - school picture proofs.  Look, I realize that I am getting older and my ability to recall details of past events (like what I had for breakfast this morning) is slipping away.  However, I am absolutely sure that when I was in school we did not do pictures so very early in the year.  It was at least October or November before we had to go through that little exercise.  Not with my kids.  Mid-September and already we are being offered the chance to memorialize the educational experience through timeless photographs...and CD's.
The real shock came not through the timing of the school pictures but in the price tag.  The company that supplies the photos is proud of what they do.  Very, very proud.  They are not shy, even in difficult financial times, to request that I hand over a minimum of $45 for their basic package.  I have to admit, I like it when people are bold.  No apologies, no begging, just the brash assertion that my child's image is so priceless to me that I will gladly pay large sums of money to possess it.  Well played, school picture people.  I like your style.  Just one question before I empty the checking account- what do school pictures have to do with school?
School pictures are another one of those fascinating traditions that no longer make sense to me.  In the dark days before digital cameras and Photoshop getting a good picture required some skill (and lots of retakes).  Now, "professional" school pictures just seems pointless.  If I want an embarrassing photo of my kids why do I have to pay someone for it?  All I have to do is whip out the old cell phone and bam, instant humiliation.  When I was a kid school pictures used to be sent to all the relatives around the holidays.  Now, thanks to the good folks at Facebook, I can send my children's bad hair moments all around the globe in a matter of seconds.  I can even threaten to make it my profile picture if they don't clean their room or eat their veggies.  And don't think I have not played this card.  Often.
But it is the connection between school and pictures that still escapes me.  What about 3rd grade is so unbelievably earth shattering that I need a 8x10 color glossy of my child?  Are educational opportunities so rare that the mere presence of my offspring in school warrants a Polaroid moment?  What is even more bizarre to me is that the picture does not actually show my kid doing anything schoolish.  Send me a picture of my little one hunched over their desk intently trying to solve a math problem and we might be able to do business.  Or, how about a shot of them reading aloud to the class, or passing a spelling test, or in the science lab (with those awkward lab goggles on) and you might inspire me to open my wallet.
Perhaps, as is often the case, I am missing a larger point (beyond an income stream for the school).  Maybe we have become so accustomed to school pictures that we don't even question why they exist  We send them to school all dressed up (or at least not looking like they do most days) and then pony up to buy the pictures because that is what we think we are supposed to do.  But who said we had to do it?  Where is it written that enrolling my child in school means we have to involve a photographer?  Why can't I just get them to school on time, make sure they do their homework, and leave it at that?
I get concerned when we start to do things out of habit.  In the school, the church, whatever the situation, doing something just because we have always done it is not the best way to approach life.  When we lose the meaning behind our actions, when we no longer remember why we do what we do, passion and excitement fade away.  This does not mean that we should stop doing things just because they are a habit.  Rather, I think that rediscovering the purpose behind our actions can give them new life, or, in some cases, will lead us to make changes in our behavior.  Either way, we are better off when we live our lives with a purpose rather then as a habit.