Gen Z Teens Are Covering Their Noses In Family Photos & Parents Are Totally Confused

Millennials perfected the “duck face” and peace sign combo back in the 2000s, posing for group shots with our clunky digital cameras. We took millions of photos and uploaded photo albums to Facebook with titles like “Here’s To The Nights We’ll Never Remember With Friends We’ll Never Forget!”

Our parents weren’t on social media, so the only photos we had to worry about being uploaded to the internet were the ones our roommate took over the weekend that were unflattering (the lighting in a fraternity house basement does no one any favors!).

For Generation Z kids, their parents are all over social media, and they’re done with their faces being posted by their parents without consent.

Gen Z kids are now participating in what is called the “nose cover,” a photo trend made viral when influencers Paris and Tyson Fury shared a family photo on social media. Their 13-year-old teen Venezuela was covering her face in the shot. Other kids caught onto this idea, soon covering their faces in photos they didn’t want to be a part of.

Gen Z kids are still trying to appease their parents by bothering to even be in these photos, but parents are not getting why they’re covering up their faces with some even worried that their kids may be getting bullied.

“After several attempts to snatch the perfect Christmas family photo, I turned to my teen and finally asked him, ‘Why?'” parent of a 13-year-old boy, Michelle Harris told The Sun.

“’Is everything OK? Why won’t you show up in family photos for the handsome boy that you are anymore?’ And then the big whopper: ‘Are you being bullied?'”

Thankfully, the reason had nothing to do with bullying. Instead, Harris’ son explained to her that he just didn’t want his face on her social media because that may lead to bullying.

“‘No, but I will be if you post pictures of me online without my consent!'” he told her.

Covering their faces, then, is a way to potentially evade teasing because when parents are posting pictures of their tweens and teens, it’s totally cringe.

“As parents, we want to capture it all — their first step, every tooth, the braces, the spots, and then we proudly post in our online social circles mindlessly without stopping to think how damaging this can be to our youngsters within their own online social groups,” she continued.

Harris revealed that some teens have group chats where kids compete to find and share the most embarrassing family photos of each other so they can “roast” them in the group.

Parenting experts and founders of The Carol App, Holly Zoccolan and Amanda Jenner, also spoke to Fabulous to explain why the nose cover trend is so popular among teenagers and what parents can do to support them.

Jenner explained, "Using covers is the only way they can remove themselves without actually upsetting their parents by refusing to be in the photo. We as parents want and insist on capturing the moment but to a teenager this is a big deal.”

"Teenagers go through a period of not embracing their appearance, i.e., spots, braces, or they just have a time in their lives where they have no self-confidence.”

"The online world is a very hard thing for teenagers to tackle as we all know. But to have pictures across social channels which parent's have taken and maybe not perfected this can really affect teenagers. Their peers can often share the photo and make fun of it which is very harmful to their confidence also resulting in harmful comments which can lead onto other issues. It's very sad that we can't share and be proud of family photos but unfortunately this is the way it is today.”

Zoccolan further explained the importance of consent and what things we can do better as parents to support our teenagers saying, "Teenagers withdrawing their consent to appear in family photos reflects their growing desire for privacy and control over their personal image.”

"As they develop their own identity, teenagers often become more self-conscious and sensitive about how they are perceived, especially on social media where these photos might be shared.”

Gen Z are covering their faces in family photos to avoid being the subject of digital ridicule from their peers. It seems fair honestly. And parents shouldn’t be posting photos of their tweens and teens without their consent anyway. Parents should be more mindful about the content they share online and ask their kids for consent before sharing a seemingly innocent photo that might end up in a negative situation.