I’ve just spent the morning strolling memory lane. For my job, no less.

After a Colorado 18-year-old hit the airwaves to advocate for her cause — getting the high school yearbook to print a racy photograph of her in a yellow miniskirt and a barely-there top — I grabbed my own yearbook to refresh my recollection of student life.

Two things I noticed right away: We wore our plaid Catholic school skirts a lot shorter than I remember. And, Sydney Spies’ come-hither shot would’ve never been printed in my yearbook.

I also cracked open my 18-year-old’s 2011 tome. The quality of the product was much improved — color photographs, wow! — but I doubt a sexually suggestive pic of a model wannabe would have been printed there, either. The photos in his yearbook were appropriate for teenagers in a public high school.

While Spies may not understand the definition of appropriate, she seems to recognize an opportunity for her 15 minutes of fame. And she’s making the most of it. Too bad she may come to regret it one day.

Spies submitted the controversial photo, taken by a professional photographer in Durango, Colo., to the yearbook because, as her mother put it, “she has grown tired of seeing all the boring pictures submitted, and she wanted to do something different.” Different, I guess, means sexual and provocative.

“I honestly think (the picture) describes who I am,” Spies told NBC’s Today show. “I’m an outgoing person and I really do think it’s artistic.”

Artistic for a Playboy primer perhaps.

Submitting their own photos to the yearbook is an acceptable practice at Durango High School and seniors there often choose pictures that tell something about them and their interests. In the spirit of editorial independence, a committee of five students approves the photographs.

Initially the students did approve Spies’ photo but then decided it was unacceptable. She submitted a second photo, an image of her in a form-fitting, strapless dress that was equally racy. That, too, was rejected.

Spies blames the administration, but the staff, the principal and the yearbook advisor say adults didn’t make the decision. Students did.

“We didn’t want this picture to make our publication seem unprofessional and inappropriate,” said editor Brian Jaramillo. The award-winning yearbook has rejected other photos, including one of a shirtless male student two years ago.

So what was Spies’ reaction? She bellyached about censorship and freedom of expression. She and her mom, Miki Spies, waved placards in front of the school and now say they’re considering legal action.

Oh, please. This is not a reality TV show or a photo shoot. It’s a yearbook put out by students of a high school with a dress code. Spies’ photo belongs in her modeling portfolio, in a publicity campaign for a nightclub, maybe even on a billboard for an escort service. But in a yearbook? No way.

Yet, I’m not blaming Spies for trying to jumpstart a career. At 18, she’s allowed to confuse innovation with tastelessness. But her mother should know better. Instead of warning her child about the consequences of a stupid decision — is this really how she wants her classmates to remember her? — Mama is promoting the embarrassing fiasco. After her daughter was publicly savaged on Facebook and other Internet sites, Miki Spies told CNN she was “surprised more Americans aren’t on the side of freedom of expression anymore.”

But freedom of expression isn’t in question here. A parent’s judgment is.

Follow Ana on Twitter @AnaVeciana.