You are a bad parent...

[tinymango]

Parents who upload photographs of their children to Facebook without first ensuring the account is private and secure are not good parents.

Someone with average skills could geotag a photo of your child. Guess what school they go to. Get your name off Facebook along with your email and mobile number. Trace relatives and addresses and easily go in and take your child out of school or nursery with ease whilst they pretend to be someone else.

If you have photographs you want to share use an encrypted whatsapp group or via a private account.

Uploading photos of your child to share with relatives is not a good excuse. Or even as a way to archive photos. You are putting your child at risk.

Please do not be clueless.

[Houseofmirth66]

Blimey. Or they could hide outside your house, go though your bins to find your mobile number and lip read you saying your child’s name as they peered through the window.

[Kelsoooo]

Jesus that sounds highly unlikely.

[mustbemad17]

Why on earth would a school or nursery hand a child over to somebody they didn't know??? Top that, why would a school/nursery hand a child over to somebody the child didn't know??!

[Ohlellykelly]

I've been posting photos of my kids for 10 years. Maybe they set up a bug in my house, heard my kids and changed their minds on the kidnap

[hollowtree]

Just in case you get some angry replies... my SIL is a primary school teacher and this exact thing has happened at her school. One of the children (let's say George) was walking out of the school and heard "George! Hi! I'm your parents [mum's name and dad's name known] friend and I've come to get you because they're busy at work doing [their jobs known] so come with me back to your home in [their home known]". This is enough to convince any child... luckily the teachers intervened and the child was made to wait for his parents who did in fact turn up to get him, on time, with no friend arranged. The man disappeared and did not return, but this story was enough to scare me off ever uploading pictures to social media

[TheFifthKey]

That actually happened?

[Toprate]

Someone who really wanted to abduct a child would not need to go to those lengths.

[vvviola]

But hollowtree, someone could pick most of that information up by hanging around at pick up/drop off. And probably much easier than trying to put together all the information from a social media account.

[mustbemad17]

The lesson there surely is to teach your kids as soon as they are old enough that they never leave with someone they don't know? We were always taught as kids that only people you know will collect you, or the school will know someone else is coming. That was before social media!!!

[loveablether]

Good talking point - did anyone else see the video on YouTube of the guy asking the parents permission then approaching child in playpark and simply saying “I have a puppy, wanna see?” And the kids going off with them? Fucking terrifying.

What things do you tell your kids for safety? Passwords?

[mustbemad17]

Younger children i can well imagine, but then round here the kids don't leave school premises without an adult so that deals with that quite efficiently.

There are so many ways someone could get to your child. Photos on FB is probably one of the lowest areas of risk!

[tinymango]

@houseofmirth66 This is an example to demonstrate the ease of finding and collating information just by a having a quick browse on someones page. Plus, the web is open to a lot more people

Unfortunately it does happen. There may always be some low risk but, why increase the risk by putting information out on the web without taking the necessary precautions first? It's not just about the nursery/school scenario but, why would you want random people having access to photos of your children? What is the need?

[mustbemad17]

Loveblether we use passwords here. Always used passwords with nursery if a friend had to collect; the password was changed each time & agreed over the phone when we called to change arrangements.

There's a fab video online of a bloke approaching a young girl with the exact story someone mentioned above; parents late/ill, i'll take you to them. The girl asked for the password & obv the guy didn't know it; she then knew to scream/shout & run. Brilliant

[tinymango]

I place tons of emphasis on 'stranger danger'.

[tinymango]

@mustbemad17 what a great idea!! Never thought of passwords!

[mustbemad17]

At one point your child was statistically more likely to be hurt by someone they knew. Not sure if the stats are still the same. How do we protect against that?

[mustbemad17]

TinyMango honestly, a godsend of an idea. And can be something so simple your LO won't have to fret to remember...but won't forget either if that makes sense?

[anothernetter]

Wow thanks OP I'm glad you have written this post I feel totally naive but am going to start updating my Facebook now

[AgentProvocateur]

Yep, child theft is a huge problem. There have been so many cases of a stranger stealing a child from school or nursery after seeeunf their photo on social media

[anothernetter]

What a horrible world we live in knowing that there are predators out there who would snatch our kids given half the chance

[mustbemad17]

You could get hit by a car every time you step on the pavement. Should we stay indoors our entire lives?