As summer comes to an end, things start to shift at The Fitzhugh. Our stories start changing as people get back into the swing of things, groups start having more regular meetings, decisions get made, students and teachers are back to school and a lot of sports start up again.

One thing in particular that the paper has started to have is school coverage. With three schools in town, as small as they may be, there is a lot going on.

Since school started in early September, we’ve had several photos from various events, including meet-the-teacher night, Alberta Arts Days, junior volleyball, and most recently, the school Terry Fox Run.

While I have received compliments on several of those photos, and from my experience, school photos of kids are the biggest photo-reprint sellers, they also have something else in common – the kids are nameless.

Yes, the photo on last week’s Fitzhugh cover was an unidentified grade three boy, with his face clearly identifiable. Even though you can see his face, read in the caption what school, and what grade he is in, we (the media) did not identify him. This is a protection policy that comes down from the Grande Yellowhead Regional Division (GYRD). Students in the Elementary or Junior High School need permission before identification.

So thank goodness we didn’t name him, or someone in this tight-knit community of 5000 people might actually know who he is.

I understand the importance of not revealing the identity of students in photos – it’s not a new thing, and I’ve come across the issue in schools in other towns as well. With incidents in past years of strangers hanging around schools, pretending to be a child’s friend, offering them a ride home, or worse, school boards don’t want to give strangers any more ammunition by providing names of kids, making them seem more trusting when they call a child by their name.

Keeping children’s names out of the media also makes it harder for someone to befriend a child on Facebook, or publish stories, photos or videos with that child’s name attached.

I have always been told by editors that ‘if you don’t get their name, you might as well not take the photo,’ suggesting that no one will run a photo if they don’t know the person’s name.

There are always situations where it is impossible to get someone’s name, but I have always felt that taking a photo of someone and not making an effort to get their name is lazy journalism.

After taking photos of students at Jasper Elementary School last week for Alberta Arts Days, I was informed that a waiver was sent home to every student’s parents, and upon signing, it would allow students to have their photos taken, but not releasing their names.

Another waiver would have to be sent to an individual if we want to run someone’s name, and, if children are anything like me when I was a kid, I can’t expect them to have that form returned to the school by our papers deadline.

To someone without kids, it seems silly to have such a rule in this small town where everyone seems to know everyone, so much that even without naming them, many people know who it is anyway.

Is our community so protective that we need to take these measures, or are these just protocol orders from higher up in the school board? Or, more to the point, is our community so dangerous that we need to take these measures?

I can understand if parents don’t want a photo of their kids taken and published, and I always ask parents at situations like playgrounds and schools before taking a photo of a child. I can also sympathize with the schools, and I know it isn’t the teacher, or even the principal’s decision, as the paper often receives compliments on our school photos.

Regardless of whose decision it is, and for what reasons, rules are rules, and I still believe that all three schools are a big part of this town’s community.