Sharing Back to School Photos on Social Media

Many of us will have noticed our social media feeds full of the above with proud friends and family sharing images of their children in their new school uniform for First Day or First Day Back.

Whilst it’s a great way to keep close family and friends up to date with what’s happening with the kids, especially if they live a distance away, it’s important to remember that social media profiles are by their very nature, not just limited to family and friends.

So here’s a few things just to keep in mind for these shots and any other pic’s of your children you share on social media:

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Sharing Back to School Photos can contain a lot of personal information

Think about that for a moment. When we take a picture, particularly a back to school image you could be revealing a lot about your child such as:

• Where you live
• What School your Child attends
• What (approximate age) they are

If you haven’t disabled the location settings it’s possible you could be showing where you live. Images themselves capture visual information, which can be viewed directly from the image. They they also contain other information which is less visible but also can also give away your location. Geo Location information in the image metadata shows GPS coordinates revealing the location where the picture was taken.

Consent

At some point children will become adults and may already have a very large digital footprint – in some cases mainly shaped by their parents. Children wont and can’t be expected to have a clear understanding of consent or the full implications of their images or personal details being made available online. It’s important to remember this as they may not want embarrassing childhood images showing up online or perhaps being used by peers to embarrass them.

Children learn by example

We need to show a good example to our kids. No texting or sneaky peaks at our phones while driving and trying to balance the FOMO glances at our phones and constant social media and email checking with device-free time. Try not to get caught up in ‘Who’s life is the most exciting/better games’ social media Giants like us to play. We’re really not missing out.   And one last thing.

We are THE Most Important Generation – of ‘Parents in the Digital Age’. Because we’re the first to have children who were born into it and are growing up in it.

We’ll set the precedent for future Tech-Balanced Kids.

No pressure

Wayne

Got questions when it comes to Online Safety?  Need practical tools & strategies?  Book a 1 to 1 Parents session with me, click on the image

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