Internet Safe Education
I read an interesting statistic yesterday on Internet Safe Education that gave me pause - a study in England found that on average, by the time a child is 13 years old, their parents will have shared around 1300 photos or videos of their child on social media.
A child must be 13 years old to have a social media account and yet by this age, it is likely they will have an extensive online presence thanks to their parents’ sharing of happy snaps, milestones etc. This phenomenon has been termed as “Sharenting.”
“Sharenting refers to the act of parents sharing information and photos of their children on social media.”
What was particularly scary is where many of these images end up.
“In Australia, Julie Inman Grant, eSafety Commissioner implored parents to consider, “When you post a photo of your child online, it can end up travelling more widely than you want (or realise) and can be ‘harvested’ from social media or other websites and used for unintended purposes.”
“A frightening statistic shared by French MP Bruno Studer is that half of all images exchanged on child exploitation forums are initially posted by parents on their social media accounts.”
We teach our children to be careful about what they post online, but are we as parents being just as conscientious? When we post an image to social media, we lose control over it immediately, regardless of the privacy settings.
To read the entire article, click here: Internet Safe Education - Why the French have banned ‘Sharenting’
Mrs Fiona Stevens, College Principal
