The Arizona Republic has a story that says some high schools are doing away with yearbooks. The main reason cited in the article seems be that students are not buying them because they are too expensive. There's also the increasing use of online resources like Facebook to keep up with friends. Social networks make friend photos and contact information easy to find even several years after graduation.
"It's the only thing from high school that you'll probably have 20 years from now," said Thompson, a staff member of the Tallmadge High School yearbook who wasn't pleased to learn that in some schools, including at least one in the Houston area, the annual is no more.
Some say it's the economy, others say it's because of the popularity of social networks like Facebook. And then there are the teens who simply don't have a loyalty to their school.
About 275 students at Akron's Garfield High School are expected to get this year's annual. The cost of the book is included in senior dues. Yearbook adviser Jeffrey Davis said he expects about 245 pupils to pay those dues, meaning just 30 underclassmen will have ordered the books.
An article here from the Waco Tribune cites another trend: many kids don't even want to be in the yearbooks.
Not only do kids not want to buy the $45 yearbook, apparently many of them don't want to be in it, either. Only two-thirds of the senior class sat for their yearbook picture, Petree said.
"We're doing good to get 1,100 out of 1,800 pictures in the book now," he said.
The yearbook is not going to be as useful if half the kids are missing. The dwindling interest in yearbooks will probably be the hardest on yearbook publishers. (Via Ypulse)
