When it comes to sharing information about your kids, you’re all for it. Nothing will stop you from doing it. After all, sharing “too much information” or “TMI” for short is something every proud mom is guilty of doing.
I was guilty of TMI too. LOL
Thanks to social media, sharing TMI has become way too easy. These days, there’s such thing as digital TMI. Photos of kids are posted and shared liberally on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and whatever social network or app your heart desires.
With many parents wanting to show family and friends how great their kids are, it is no surprise that some parents are oversharing at the expense of privacy and online safety. The University of Michigan study found that:
“While 67% of parents said social media helped them learn from other parents, many also had safety concerns about sharing too much.”
There’s no doubt that photos of kids are always cute and endearing but you need to be careful. Amid your eagerness to share, you might just be endangering your kids or somebody else’s kids.
So the next time you’re tempted to post a photo online, think about it. Take a good look at the photo because 6 types of kids’ photos should never be posted online.
Below are the 6 types of photos that parents should never post online:
6. Photos of Other Children Without Their Parents’ Consent.
Before you post a picture of your child’s birthday party and start tagging every single kid in the photos, make sure to first ask permission from their parents. Some parents might not mind having their kid’s photos posted online while others might do.
It’s really a matter of preference regarding personal privacy, especially when it comes to children. Just respect other parents’ policy on posting photos.
So to be safe, ask permission first especially since a lot of parents prefer not to have their kids names and photos posted on Facebook for privacy and security reasons.
“Everyone has their own positions on sharing their children’s faces on social media, so before you go posting and tagging away after a birthday party or field trip, be sure to respect the stances of the other families involved.” Source: PopSugar.com
So just ask other parents’ permission first.
You’ll be surprised how many parents will appreciate you asking them first about these types of matters.
Although innocently posted, these types of pictures could be misunderstood by some people. So be careful when posting nude or semi-nude photos of children. It’s just another measure to protect your children.
5. Your Child Doing Potty
Congratulations on your progress with your little one’s potty training! However, it’s advisable to keep these photos private.
While it’s wonderful to celebrate milestones, sharing such images could potentially lead to embarrassment for your child in the future. It’s best to refrain from posting them on social media.
Furthermore, not everyone really wants to know these details. Nancy Baym, principal researcher at Microsoft Research and author of Personal Connections in the Digital Age says that with excessive sharing,
“The risks are that parents may alienate readers who do not care about their kids’ details.”
Just share or post only when your child has some major milestones or achievements. Only share when it really counts.
By doing so, family and friends will take better notice of your posts.
4. Bath Photos or Nude Photos of Your Child.
Sure, bath tub photos of your child may look really cute and shareable. However, keep in mind that digital content can be easily copied and easily distributed. Having those pictures in the wrong hands is just not worth the risk. Even if the photos are totally innocent, the reality is that there are crazies out there.
Alex Brooks, executive editor of parenting website Kidspot says:
“Parents are discovering that once content becomes digital, it can be easily copied and redistributed willy-nilly. The result: photos of kids in compromising, colorful circumstances, and status updates recounting even more compromising, colorful circumstances, intended for a select few, are now spread out over the web for everyone.” Source: News.com.au
It absolutely is to you and your kid’s benefit to not have these types of photos posted on social media. It definitely is better to be on the safe side.
Just share these types of photos privately with your loved ones.
Besides, you don’t want your kid to be embarrassed with these types of pics, especially when they grow up, right?
Proud parents are usually guilty of posting pictures with information about where their kids go to.
I know, I know … we sometimes can’t help but be proud of our child’s achievement in school or where they go to school. If you are posting pictures of your kids in school, make sure to avoid sharing certain information.
3. Photos That Reveal Where Your Child Goes To School.
Of course, when we are excited to share something about a great accomplishment or award that our child got in school, we may tend to post them online without thinking about sharing too much information with people who may have some malicious intent.
Keep your child safe by ensuring that the photos do not include identifying information that might show where your child goes to school. Source: derrydaily.net
According to Kathy Simovska, National Manager Of Child Abuse Prevention Programmes at the child protection charity Child Wise, says:
“One of my concerns with posting personal information online is that we make it easier for child sex offenders to be able target children and find out more information than they could otherwise.”
This is what you should do:
“If you share photos of your children in the classroom or on school grounds, make sure that the name and/or features that distinguish its location are kept hidden.” Source: PopSugar.com
Again, this reminder is more out of concern for the safety of your kids.
Call me paranoid but I would rather keep my kids safe, most especially when I cannot be around them.
Sometimes, in your excitement, you end up posting photos of your kids with this info … Parents should be careful posting photos of their children with their full names shown. Such information can be used by identity thieves or by some really nasty people to abduct children.
2. Photos Showing Children’s Full Names.
You might say, “Duh, this is common sense.” There is no argument regarding that … However, some parents still do make this mistake in their haste and excitement to share photos of their kid’s accomplishments in school. Common sense is usually overcome by all the excitement and emotions.
Whether it be awards, report cards, certificates, sports jerseys, or that simple name tag in an event, just be reminded to pay a close attention to these when posting anything related to school photos.
According to Brian Gresko, a parent who has stopped writing about his parenting life as a result of a life-changing over sharenting incident:
“There are online stalkers as well, creeps who steal photos of children on Instagram and engage in virtual role playing, pretending that the children are their own. While this might not cause physical harm to you or your child, it is a violation — a sort of identity theft.”
Yes, child identity theft is a serious matter. With the advent of social media and the widespread access to digital information, child identity theft has been rising over the years.
Make sure to keep information about your child as private as possible. It will save you the trouble of having to deal with identity theft in the future.
Lastly, you might like to check with your child about this last type of photo … see next page.
If you think your child might be embarrassed and humiliated (now or in the future), just don’t post the photos. Once a photo is on the internet, anything can happen. So parents, think twice … even thrice.
1. Really Embarrassing Photos or Photos Showing Them When They Are Not At Their Best.
Keep in mind that decisions to share these types of photos may have consequences down the road. Sure, your kid might be a toddler now and might not think too much about these embarrassing photos. However, a few years from now, those photos can be cause for embarrassment.
Posting a child’s embarrassing photo can potentially make your child the target of jokes or cyberbullying. You wouldn’t like to put your child in that situation, right?
Sarah J. Clark, associate director of the University of Michigan C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital National Poll on Children’s Health, says decisions to share information can have consequences down the road:
“When you tell what you think is a hilarious anecdote, in a couple of years when the child is older, and a classmate stumbles upon it, it might be embarrassing. The idea is yes, your kid is 2, 3 or 4, but they won’t stay 2, 3 or 4.”
Here is something to think about: If you think that photos or posts of your child might embarrass them a few years down the road, just don’t post them.
“If a photo is embarrassing, unflattering, or seems like it should be private, then respect your child — ask them if they’re old enough — and keep it in the confines of your own photo library.” Source: PopSugar.com
As parents, our priority is to keep our kids safe at all times. However, there are times when we may tend to overlook certain safety measures in our excitement to share our children’s pictures.
Protecting your child’s privacy while showing you are being a proud parent on Facebook and other social media is definitely a balancing act. Just make sure that you are aware when you are crossing the line when it comes to sharing your child’s photos.
The bottom line is this: Make sure that you do not give away too much personal information about your child which could strip them of their privacy or at worst, put their safety at risk.
Have you knowingly or unknowingly shared a photo of your child that revealed too much info?
