As the new academic year begins, social media platforms are filled with pictures of children going back to school. Parents love sharing pictures and videos of their children online, documenting their every moment from birth to their first steps, parties, trips, and other family moments.
However, this seemingly harmless act of sharing a child's intimate moments online can have serious consequences. In this blog post, we'll explore the risks involved in sharing your child's life on social media.
Firstly, children are sometimes too young to understand what is happening, and parents often don't consult them. It is possible that in a few years, the child may be unhappy to find out that so many private moments have been shared online by the parent. Anything uploaded online, even "for friends," has the potential to hang around forever.
Secondly, there are serious privacy and security issues involved in sharing anything about a child or teenager online, including identity fraud, exposing the child to predators, and cyberbullying. Depending on the child's age, mental health and trust issues may arise with a parent who cannot respect the child's boundaries and intimate wishes.
Social media companies encourage us to make more and more posts because they profit from it. More personal data uploaded by users means more profit for them, as it allows more accurate advertising profiles to be created.
Luisa Jarovsky suggests that parents think about the following questions before posting anything online:
Does it make sense to post it online instead of celebrating it privately with my child or face-to-face with friends?
Will my child benefit in any way from my post?
Can I post this without exposing my child?
In a few years will my child be happy to find out that I posted this?
Would I be happy to know that my parents share everything about me with strangers or distant friends?
In conclusion, parents need to be more aware of the privacy and security risks involved in sharing their child's life on social media. They should consider the possible consequences of their child's lack of consent and always put their child's well-being and privacy first.
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