Christmas Nativity - Photos and Traditional?

[ben1234]

Hi
I just wondered how many schools out there do not allow photos to be taken at the Christmas Nativity? Ours do not allow but I know atleast one does and feel you should be allowed to video and photo your child. I think it's nice in a few years time so see how they were at school etc.
Plus how many schools do a traditional nativity with Mary and Joseph ? Last year the school did something nothing about Christmas. I feel it's political correctness gone mad....

[FishWithABicycle]

Some of the children in your child's school could be in serious danger if photos/videos including them get on to social media. Their mum (usually) has fled serious domestic abuse and is effectively in hiding. The dad is a serious danger and is scouring social media for evidence of the children's whereabouts intent on abducting them and either harming them to get back at their mother or taking them abroad where she'll never see them again.

This can and does happen. Not in every school, but if your school has a blanket ban then take it seriously.

[Floggingmolly]

Ours allow filming; but warn about posting it on any social media. Not sure how exactly they could police this, though.
I guess if there were any vulnerable children at the school there'd be an outright ban.

[Heels99]

We can film and take photos but not put on social media. If you are unhappy with the policy discuss it with school, there may be vulnerable children that need protection. You won't know until you ask them.

[noramum]

We had it for one year, a child protection issue was raised and a mum who is a professional photographer offered to do group shots during rehearsal without the child in question. The parents then got prints against a donation for the school funds.

I must say I hate parents taking photos or filming without consideration of the audience sitting next or behind them. We had this in DD's theater group during an end of term play.

DD's Infant did a more modern play but it means the whole school can play and sing without the typical stress who to cast in which role. The school has a Special Needs Class, these children can't participate in an hour long play so they play the traditional nativity scene while the Y2 children read the story.

[FishWithABicycle]

Our school allows a free-for-all after the show is over for any parents who wish to put their child in position back on the stage in costume and take a photo without any other kids there - so you can still get your memento.

I think it's fine for a school to vary the christmas show and sometimes do something unrelated to mary&joseph - it would get pretty boring for the teachers to do Mary&Joseph every year throughout a 45-year career. Politely enquire how often they use the traditional christmas story before complaining. Avoid using the phrase "political correctness gone mad" though, it will mark you out as a loony.

[ben1234]

Policing it would be a problem. Even though the school say no photos parents were still blatantly taking them and posting on social media. The bit I was interested in was how come some schools do but our school won't allow it. Maybe it is a case of one particular child for protection reasons. Im not a hundred percent but its possible one parent has said they don't want photos taken of their child for whatever reason.
Feel that's a bit unfair on all the other parents when it could be just the one child.
However I can see why it is requested. I just wanted to know how many schools allow photos to be taken.

[Wolfbasher]

Feel that's a bit unfair on all the other parents when it could be just the one child.

That's very selfish IMO. In the situation Fish describes, you'd be happy to put 'just the one child' (and their mother/siblings) in serious physical and mental danger? So that you can take a crappy poorly-lit blurred picture?

I think it would be a lot better if all these parents just sat and enjoyed the performance instead of bobbing about trying to record every second of it. When I was a child that's what happened, and our families were not scarred by not having countless videos and photographs of our every moment on stage.

Take a picture of your DC in their costume at home, or after the performance. Surely that's what a rational, sensible person would do?

[ben1234]

It is a multicultural school and I wonder because some families do not celebrate Christmas this is a reason. Purely wondered how many other schools adapt the Christmas play to allow for this

[ben1234]

Well when I was at school lots of parents did video and photo their child. I think it's nice to look back in ten years time at your childs performance. Some schools do still allow this and I remember last year seeing lots of videos on social media from parents who were proud of their child.

[ben1234]

If there was a reason that fish described then I could understand that it is not allowed to be posted on social media.
You may not be worried about having videos and photos of your child's school years. Some parents may want to though so there's the choice. Be considerate and don't keep getting up and in people's way but that's just common sense and manners. If your not worried by them then sit and enjoy the show. I don't see how it makes you un rational or not sensible because you want to photo your child in the play.
I think it's more un rational and not sensible to post such a suggestion that it's wrong to want to film or photograph it.

[nonicknameseemsavailable]

well our school seem to do very traditional at least in reception, Yr1 have done a mix of traditional or more modern in the past from what I gather.

Church school so obviously they will generally be Christian.

Interestingly on the multicultural subject when my mum taught in a really quite multicultural school she had some Muslim and Sikh parents who wanted their children to take part in the Nativity because they felt it was important their children learned the customs of the country they lived in and they just viewed it as a play I think. There was never any problem with the school doing a nativity every year.

photographing and videoing is child protection and whilst yes it would be nice to have some pictures or something yourself I will always support and respect anything which is for the safety of even just one child in a situation.

Our school arrange for photos to be taken in costume a few days before the production and any children who can't be in the pictures are obviously not in them. Previously we have been able to arrange an official recording of it too but I suppose that would depend on any individual circumstances.

[ExcuseMeButtingIn]

The school I work at doesn't allow photos for CP reasons and because it's really bloody annoying when half the audience are standing up with cameras/phones flashing to take pictures.

We have a professional photographer in who takes small group shots of the children and who films it. Any profit we make goes to the PTA - works well

[Wolfbasher]

You may not be worried about having videos and photos of your child's school years.

Yes, that's right, because I don't bob up and down to take videos/photos DURING a live performance (incredibly bad manners apart from anything else) I therefore have no videos/photos of my DC's school years. None at all. Not a single memory to look back on. It is quite literally impossible for me to take any pictures of them at any moment other than the half an hour a year they are on stage for the nativity play.

I think you need to get this in proportion!

[insanityscratching]

At dd's Primary we weren't allowed to take photos or videos during the school production because there were children on protection orders. I never heard anyone complain as we all understood that the children's safety was paramount. We could if we chose take a photo of our child alone in costume after the performance and everyone seemed happy at that.

[sugarhoops]

Our school doesn't allow photo's or filming during the play, but used to allow it at the end when all kids were lined up on stage. I think its now changed & HT takes photo's and then you can buy them from the school for a small contribution to the PTA.

Personally, I agree with the no photo policy - SO many mums post pics on facebook of their child in nativity / on a school trip (with various other unsuspecting kids faces in the background). It really p*sses me off actually, I'm not on FB and I don't want a picture of my reception child appearing on there either.

Grrr, FB rant over!!

[BreconBeBuggered]

I don't imagine you'd find much data on how many schools allow parents to take their own unrestricted photos and videos. Some do ban it outright, but maybe others look at the policy annually to decide how it needs to be implemented. If there are children who need specific protection, it's highly unlikely the school would spell this out to you.
Most schools seem to find some kind of compromise in that situation. I think it's unfair that some parents try to do their own surreptitious filming, as that's precisely the kind of irresponsible behaviour that can lead to a ban on all cameras.

[teeththief]

My niece has photosensitive epilepsy. The year she was in reception the HT told parents they could take photos during the performance but to ensure the flash was off on their camera. They had to stop the play 3 times to remind people who hadn't turned the flash off.

The school now has a ban on all photos but they do get a photographer in to take group shots (minuse flash for DN!) which parents can buy. It wasnt a popular decision but the minority ruined it for the majority that first year.

[AsBrightAsAJewel]

The Headteacher announces about photographs may be taken for personal use only and must not be posted on any social networking sites. It doesn't stop it happening though - full group photos with names of friends tagged on various fully visible and public sites. So if we have a child who is at risk we will just ban all photos, as a minority of parents can't be trusted. Why do so many people (several in each year group) think it doesn't apply to them?

[TeenAndTween]

I'm one of those annoying parents who is not happy for my children to appear on Internet or in newspapers. They are adopted and it could cause upset / aggravation if certain members of their birth family become aware of their location.

The school permits photos / filming for personal use only, not to be uploaded onto social media. I am happy with this as a middle line between all or nothing. However if I became aware that people were uploading pictures of my children on 'open' forums then I would start being very stroppy with the school, and they would probably ban filming.

What our school does do is 'photo calls' at the end of shows and we can whisk our child away so she doesn't appear.

[BadRoly]

Dc3&4's school doesn't allow photos or videos of performances. No official reason is given but I always thought it's because several children are in 'care' of some sort so they need to be protected. They do allow photos afterwards but ask us to take care to just have our own children in shot.

[DeWee]

Ours has always been on a "take but don't put on social media". however I don't think there were any children who would be known to be at risk if it had got out, so they might have tightened the rules if that had been the case.
And there were always one or two who did it. Some of them would make sure very few were in the picture and ask the parents (I've been asked before now and I always say I don't mind as long as they tag me so I can see). Some black out any other faces, and others don't care at all.

If it had been up to me though, I'd have had a dress rehearsal where I took loads of photos and a DVD and sold them on CD. (you can do them for very cheap-we did this once for a ballet performance and made a profit from 2) and really been total banning.
I offered this once year and got told they were worried about child protection. I have to say I rolled my eyes, because, as I pointed out, if people could take their own photos they could do things like the shot straight up the skirt of the child on the front row and we wouldn't know, whereas if we did a CD ourselves we could remove any like that.

Mind you, I'd also have been much tougher on the people that bring Uncle Tom Cobbley and all to the 2 ticket only parents performance. You could guarentee the family that brought 6 aunts and uncles and small cousins would also make a fuss if they hadn't got the front row seats too.

[AsBrightAsAJewel]

Child Protection is not just "the shot up the skirt"! It is faces of children who must not be identified and you have no right to know who these children are to avoid them in your shots.

[teacherwith2kids]

We had a 'don't take photos during the performance' rule for CP reasons - small melee at the end for paremts to take individual pictures of their children, from which vulnerable children were whisked away.

Interestingly, a parent took a picture covertly one year, thinking the ban was 'silly', and put it on Facebook. It was picked up on by another parent, and the parent body was FURIOUS. The school ended up having to be the 'voice of reason' to prevent playground fisticuffs. Picture taken down in very short order, never happened again.

As a school, we found it really interesting, because we had felt that parents weren't that keen on the ban, for the reasons given in the OP ....and given the photo did, by chance, include all the children it was most dangerous for, had just started to discuss how best to get it removed without causing too many ructions or making the identity of the children concerned too obvious ....

[TeenAndTween]

Our schools have been very good at being sensitive with our daughters. They are not the only ones who do not have permission for photos which helps.

We've have had one very bad experience out of school where basically the organisers said something like 'everyone up on the stage for photos except Teen and Tween' which they were very upset about.