What is ‘nose cover’ — and why are Gen Zers doing it in family photos?

The last thing a teenager wants is to pose for a family photo, but oftentimes parents force their Gen Z children to pose for a snap anyway.

Cue: the “nose cover.”

The Zoomer generation is covering the middle of their mugs with their hands in an attempt to keep their faces out of the picture while still (sort of) appeasing their parents.

Venezuela Fury, the daughter of boxer Tyson Fury, and her cousin, Valentino, have been captured shielding their faces from the camera on more than one occasion lately, raising a question for the uninitiated: Why?

“After several attempts to snatch the perfect Christmas family photo, I turned to my teen and finally asked him, ‘Why?’” parent 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?’”

But her son’s response was a “surprise,” she recalled: “‘No, but I will be if you post pictures of me online without my consent!’”

Teens nowadays are extremely online and often seek out embarrassing photos of each other on social media to “roast” them.

Covering their faces, then, is a way to potentially evade teasing.

“As parents, we want to capture it all,” Harris said. “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.”

Parenting expert Amanda Jenner also attributes the budding trend to teenagers’ acne-riddled awkward phase: A period where they aren’t “embracing their appearance.”

“It’s important to remember that this phase is a normal part of growing up, where seeking independence and establishing personal boundaries are key developmental milestones,” she told the Sun.

However, the online landscape can be “hard” for teens, she added, especially when unfiltered or unedited photos of them are plastered on a parent’s Facebook feed. The “nose cover,” then, allows them to be in a photo to make their parents happy while still maintaining autonomy.

“It’s very sad that we can’t share and be proud of family photos, but unfortunately this is the way it is today,” Jenner said.

Back in the day, photos were merely tossed in an album and only viewed on special occasions, Harris recalled, but in today’s digital world, “just innocently changing your display picture on Whatsapp with your child in it could end up being circulated in children’s digital spaces and be used against them.

“Perhaps we should be asking for our teenagers for their consent and making negotiations about what we can and can’t post,” Harris continued.

“After all, I wouldn’t feel comfortable about a spotty photo of me being shared online either — would you?”