safety

Sometimes I’m embarrassed to admit how often the first thought I have when my daughter does something cute is “I need to take a picture and post that on Instagram.” Our culture today  is enraptured with sharing every aspect of our personal lives, and we do it with creative filters and quippy captions. It can be quite addicting. Whether you fully embrace social media or keep it at arms distance, there are certain things you should always keep in mind when posting photos of yourself, but more importantly your children. We all know that once it’s out there, it’s there forever and we should be thinking about what that will mean for our children when they become old enough to understand what we’ve posted on their behalf. Check out some safe tips for sharing photos of your children.

1. Think Before You Post

No matter how cute your kids are, not everything they do deserves to be posted in a public forum. For starters, you are exposing your children to potentially millions of people, depending on your privacy settings of your social media accounts. Not everyone cares about every aspect of your child’s day, and there’s probably better things you could be doing with your time then being attached to your phone anyways. Additionally, one day your child may ask you and even become upset with certain photos you chose to share. Even though they didn’t have to “give you permission,” one day they will be aware and could be potentially embarrassed by what you post. There’s nothing wrong with asking yourself “what would my daughter think about this photo if she were 12 years old?” Think wisely!

Source: TwinDesign/Shutterstock.com

2. Manage Your Social Media Privacy Settings

Every social media forum has options for how you’d like to share your photos. When it comes to your children, you should exercise conservative caution. If you don’t want EVERYONE to view them, then put your Instagram profile to private. For Facebook, make your albums private, or block certain people from viewing them. You cannot prevent a person from sharing your entire album unless they aren’t allowed to see it, and you’ve set the album so it’s only visible to your friends. Unfortunately, I had to block my very own aunt who couldn’t manage to abide by my wishes to stop sharing my infant daughters photos with her friends, people who I’ve never met before. Sorry auntie, but it’s my job to protect my daughter and that includes who gets to see and comment on her picture!

3. Lower Your Photo Resolution

I was horrified to learn there are actually people who will steal photos of your child and do all sorts of evil things with them. And all they have to do is download them from your social media accounts and blow them up to whatever size they need for marketing, advertising and potentially inappropriate schemes. Prevent anything like this happening by lowering the resolution on your photos, so the photos are useless if bigger than a phone screen. Sure, they may not be as crystal clear, but its social media, not National Geographic. Your followers will be just fine!

4. Skip The Naked Pictures, No Matter How Cute

I’m not sure at what point in society we decided that it’s ok for certain types of naked photos, but not for others. The fact is, nudity should be kept in the privacy of your own home from birth on. I know some people may disagree with me and say their toddler’s naked rear end is harmless. However, there are all sorts of sick people who create child pornography from the most innocent of photos. Don’t give them more fodder. Not to mention, your child will one day be an adult and interview for a job. They shouldn’t have to worry about naked photos floating around! Not to mention the perils of middle school are right around the corner…

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5. Watermark

Professionals use watermarks on their images to protect others from stealing their work, and you can do it with photos of your children too. Did you know there are countless people who steal images of your children on Instagram and create their own account and claim your child is theirs? It happens! There are tons of apps (like PhotoMarkr- it’s free!) that you can use to create a special marker on your photos, identifying them as yours. Don’t let other people rob you of your favorites photos of your kids.

Source: qoppi/Shutterstock.com

6. Turn Off Location Services

You shouldn’t just be concerned with the content of your photos of your kids, but also about the fact they can communicate your whereabouts to complete strangers. As tempting as it is to brag and check in at Disneyland, be mindful there are predators that can take advantage of knowing what your kids look like. Don’t let your trail of photo tags lead someone to you and your children. If you’ve turned off your location services, also be aware of how landmarks also communicate your home town, hang outs and where your kids go to school. You can never be too safe!

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Karly Wood

Editor at Red Tricycle

I'm a born and bred Southern California native and currently the managing editor at Red Tri. I get to share my life with my husband of 13 years and our beautiful, 5-year old daughter. In my free time you'll catch me cheering for the Dodgers, cooking, baking, reading, crafting and probably watching a little HGTV!

Latest posts by Karly Wood (see all)

• 15 Wonderful White Kitchens - January 14, 2019
• We Want All These Spring Manis And We Want Them Now - January 8, 2019
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Karly Wood

Unlike any other generation, our young children are growing up in a progressively technological and social media- focused time. It’s easier than ever to connect with family, friends and strangers at the tap of a finger and to do so from a very young age. We laugh at the video of a baby trying to “swipe” a magazine page, but it’s really a prime example of how our children will grow up with access to technology like we never had. To borrow my dad’s saying, “when I was growing up,” cell phones were only for emergencies and texting didn’t exist. We only had Myspace and not every house had the Internet. As a parent, only you can decide how much exposure your children will have to social media. But it goes without saying that they will start to partake in one type of media or another at some point in their formative years. That being said, here are some tips that every parent and child needs to know when stepping out into the digital age.

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1. It’s OK To Wait

Just because your child knows how to navigate a cell phone, doesn’t mean they are ready for their own Facebook page. I have several friends who created Facebook profiles for their INFANT children! Not only do I question who has time to maintain a child’s social media page, but I wonder what kind of message that sends about how much they value sharing so much personal information from the start of a new life. Your child has to earn your trust in many ways, and having a social media account on any forum is a privilege. There are reasons that many social media forums have age restrictions, and you should have them too. We all grew up in our time without Twitter and Instagram. I’m sure your children can wait a few years until they are mature and responsible enough to handle it.

2. Don’t Become “Friends” With A Stranger

We teach our children not to talk to strangers in real life, but connecting with one from the comfort of their own home with the vast Internet between them seems safer. Sadly, we still hear regular reports on the news of teenagers who run off to meet strangers they befriended on social media- all without their parent’s knowledge.  Even if they think it’s a fellow teenager acquaintance, it could be an adult posing as someone else. Predators are just as real and dangerous in the digital realm as they are in “real life,” and our children need to be just as careful by avoiding people they don’t know.

3. Parents Should Have Full Access

There should be no blocking, limited viewing or secret profiles in your home. You are paying for your child’s cell phone, tablet and computer in which they are most likely using to keep their accounts running. You also brought them into this world and have inherent parental rights to have access to their pages and feeds, because it’s your job to protect them. If you can’t view your child’s full page because they have changed their settings, then it’s time to talk about why they are blocking you and whether they are ready to have their own account.

4. Don’t Share Locations

With the acceptance of social media in our society, comes the natural desire to want to share everything, including where you are and whom you’re with. Whether it’s to “show off” when you’re out with cool people or something a little more innocent, your child is loudly broadcasting their whereabouts, which may involve being alone or without a parent. Depending on your child’s social media account settings, they could be opening themselves up to predators. Teach your kids about staying safe by not oversharing.

5. Don’t Hide Behind Your Device

One of the awful side effects of growing social media involvement is cyber bullying. It’s not ok for your kids to use their accounts to harass other people ever. You’ve probably been saying “if you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all” for quite some time, and it applies to social media too. Be sure to monitor all types of social networking, not just typical sites like Facebook but other notable sites like Spring.me, a particularly dicey site that has received tons of criticism. No one is ever truly anonymous on the Internet, even if your kids create a “fake” account, and they should know they will be held accountable for things they say online.

6. Be Careful What You Post- It’s Never Private

You can be vert diligent about setting privacy settings, but all it takes is for one friend of your child’s to get upset and share something sensitive to someone else. In an instant, your once private post has gone viral. Be smart and teach your children to be careful about what they post, because once its out there, it’s out there forever. Angry rants, photos and links can follow you around for a long time. Don’t let their reputation get soiled before they’re out of their teens! Your kids should also be careful about how their posts will affect their friends. They should always get permission to post photos of friends first!

7. Use Privacy Settings

You can teach your child all the dangers of social media, but you should also use the built in features of sites as well. There are easy features that include who their information gets shared with, and who can view their profile by a simple search. If you are a user of social media yourself, you know how often there are updates, many of which relate to privacy settings. Be sure you check in often to update settings and make sure your child hasn’t altered them and end up sharing more than they should.

8. Have Time Limits and Take Breaks

Last you checked, you’re still the parent and you can set time limits on your kids’ usage of devices and social media. Maybe you alot time after dinner, or make a cut off time where all electronic usage stops at 5pm. Face to face communication with family and friends is more important than staying attached to a device. Don’t forget, this applies to you too! Be a good example by laying down your devices too, even if it does include work email. We’ve all taken breaks from social media and realize we are better because of it!

• Bio
• Latest Posts
• Pinterest

Karly Wood

Editor at Red Tricycle

I'm a born and bred Southern California native and currently the managing editor at Red Tri. I get to share my life with my husband of 13 years and our beautiful, 5-year old daughter. In my free time you'll catch me cheering for the Dodgers, cooking, baking, reading, crafting and probably watching a little HGTV!

Latest posts by Karly Wood (see all)

• 15 Wonderful White Kitchens - January 14, 2019
• We Want All These Spring Manis And We Want Them Now - January 8, 2019
• DIY Heart-Shaped Valentine’s Day Wreath - January 4, 2019

Karly Wood