Teen girls 'disgusted' after their school photos were edited without permission

Teen girls from a US high school have been left "disgusted" after discovering their school yearbook photos were edited without their permission.

A total of 80 female students from the Bartram Trail High School in Florida, USA, received their yearbooks only to discover that their photos had been digitally altered.

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But the photos weren't retouched to improve the lighting or enhance the quality of the photos.

Rather, edits had been made to make the girls' clothes more modest and conservative, as their outfits had been deemed "inappropriate".

Tank tops were edited to have higher necklines, v-neck shirts were altered to cover more skin and cardigans were retouched to hide girls' chests.

The changes left many of the teens feeling "disgusted" and "embarrassed", as they felt their bodies had been unfairly sexualized, then covered up.

"They open up the yearbook, saw pictures and that was the first thing they worried about. It was unfair and I was horrified, I was disgusted," ninth-grader Zoe Iannone told Action News Jax.

Others pointed out that it was only female students who had their photos edited, even though male students on the swim team who were photographed with skin showing were left unedited.

"The double standard in the yearbook is more so they looked at our body and thought just a little bit of skin showing is sexual," student Riley O'Keefe?told the outlet.

"They looked at the boys, for the swim team photos and other sports photos and thought that was fine, and that's really upsetting and uncomfortable."

The school has remained silent on the issue, with the wider school district saying that the edits were made to "inappropriate" photos in a bid to make them adhere to school dress code guidelines.

According to Jax, a female teacher was behind the decision to have the photos altered.

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However, students don't care whether it was a male or female teacher behind the edits; they're pushing for change so it doesn't happen again.

O'Keefe said that the edits made her and other students feel uncomfortable and like their bodies "aren't acceptable", and she plans to continue to speak out.

"I don't want girls to feel like they don't have a voice. Especially girls who¡­ don't feel comfortable coming and speaking about it," she told the outlet.

A statement from the school district, via Action News Jax, read:

"Bartram Trail High School's previous procedure was to not include student pictures in the yearbook that they deemed in violation of the student code of conduct, so the digital alterations were a solution to make sure all students were included in the yearbook.

"At this point the school is offering refunds to any parents calling about this issue. The school is receiving feedback from parents/guardians/students on making this process better for next year."