Before you post that adorable back to school photo online for your friends and family to see, a parenting expert wants you to think carefully about how much the picture reveals.
Back to school season has arrived, and while some might not want the school holidays to end, others will be raring to get back to routine and normality - we understand just how much the juggle is completely real, and the long break can bring mixed feelings for many.
When the big day arrives and you've wrangled your kids into their uniforms and got them looking as fresh and well presented as humanly possible, you obviously want to capture the moment with the all-important back to school doorstep photo.
However, along with the viral 'GRWM' videos posing a safeguarding risk in the midst of the return to school, those seemingly innocuous first day back photos also pose hidden dangers to children. Posting to Instagram, parenting expert Kirsty Ketley explains what parents need to know.
Kirsty wrote "If you’re not careful, an innocent back to school photo can end up not being quite as innocent as you think. Before you post, make sure you check these things to protect your child and if your child doesn’t want their photo shared, don’t share it!"
Her checklist for things parents need to consider before sharing pictures of their children includes:
- Cover the school badge on any uniform. This can be done with a simple sticker or emoji from your phone, preventing unscrupulous people who might get their hands on the photo from knowing where your child attends school.
- Turn off geo tagging. This will prevent your location being revealed.
- Don't reveal house number or road name. On the doorstep, your house number might be visible. If you live near the road sign, make sure this doesn't make its way into your picture - both are more ways of others being able to find out where your children live.
- Ask family and friends to get permission before they share pictures. Proud and excited friends and family might be keen to share your pictures with their friends, or to their own social media feeds. Even if you've taken all the right steps to make sure you've concealed your kids' identities, others may not and the pictures could still end up in the wrong hands.
- Does your child want their picture online? This is a good question to ask them when you take it. Your children might not realise the photo will be shared to your social media, and could want it kept private. It's a good idea to ascertain this before posting it anyway, and respect the decision they make about where their image is placed.
Kirsty Ketley concludes, "Honestly, with screen shots now a thing, photos can easily end up where you don’t want them to, so check your privacy settings and who is following your social media accounts."
Mum-of-two, Harriet, tells us, "I always used to share back to school photos to Instagram and Facebook, because it's so lovely to have them as a record of how they change over the years and for family who don't see the children very often to get to see them.
My children actually asked that I don't share their pictures online anymore, as it makes them feel a bit embarrassed now they're a certain age. Now I'm more aware of the dangers, I'm quite glad they asked me to stop and now I just share them in a family WhatsApp group instead."
For more on the return to school, take a look at these four phrases to help kids settle on their first day back at school as they face common back to school issues. Parents also need to get familiar with the six new school attendance rules coming into force in September.
