EditorialTake care with posts involving children

Proud parents excited by each new stage in their child’s life are, naturally, eager to share the good news with others. Smartphones have made it easy to capture precious childhood moments and social media provides a seemingly perfect platform for photographs and videos to be displayed.

But parents often fail to consider the potential impact of posting such images on their children. A picture or video mum and dad think cute might be a source of embarrassment or humiliation for their child, especially as their son or daughter grows older.

Lives are lived online, these days, and people – especially the young – take great care to present a favourable image to their friends and followers. An unflattering picture posted by their parents can do much damage to their self-esteem and perhaps even lead to cyberbullying.

Some children are horrified when they first access social media and discover their parents have been publicly documenting their lives.

Parents need to exercise caution when posting pictures of their kids. They should also seek consent. This is why the Office of the Privacy Commissioner has published a pamphlet providing tips for parents on “sharenting”.

The guidance sets out various “dos and don’ts”. It provides helpful, common sense advice. This includes warning parents to communicate with their children about what they intend to post and to be aware of the possible consequences.