To think Brooklyn Beckham fallout is just a precursor for all the kids growing up as influencer/celebs on social media?

[YouWillNeverGuessMyUsername]

There's soon going to be 100s of kids aging out of social media "stardom"... Where their lives have been plastered all over social media for anyone to see...

Kids either the actual focus,or on the periphery as "props" - a lot of them not seeing a penny for their work.

Give it ten years and the damage fine will be huge and hopefully there'll be some sort of protection.

I've seen examples where the woman lives in a massive beautiful house, the kids appear to be homeschooled, and she takes videos of the girls having baths (back to camera...but still 😬)
Or that little boy who dances at a middling level but the mother has taken him out of school and parades him around (Brody?) or the boy that reviewed toys (Ryan's world) ... All sorts of kids being made to work at the cost of their privacy.

It's just all a disaster in the making.

What a massive shock said absolutely no one.
no doubt the kid is dripping in Gucci already.

I have friends who will post pictures of their ill children on social media I assume without their knowledge or consent, it boils my blood. My son who is 13 actively asks me not to post any pics of him, which I didn't do anyway. I ask his permission to send them to family too as it's his right to say yes or no.
I know Eric Clapton's daughter Ruth from a few years ago and her son had behavioural issues which she was very public about on Instagram because she's trying to be an influencer. She sells her soul for likes.

Emily Norris (UK) recently gave the world a tour her teenage son's bedroom and underwear drawer. All these influencers really need to wake up to what they are doing, it is a total invasion of their children's privacy, and the influencer profits from it directly. It needs to be made illegal now.

I think it is different from that. Pushy parents exploiting their children have always existed. Turning their children into stars at an early age and not supporting them properly through it is very damaging. But this goes beyond that. This is taking their children’s everyday lives and turning it in to content. Exposing them to public scrutiny from an early age in the one place they should feel safe, their childhood home. Using typical childhood behaviour as a way to ridicule or shame their children or even just to expose their private thoughts and actions in a way that nobody should have to accept. And for this to be amplified because it is a source of income for the parents so the child naturally doesn’t push back as what is the outcome of that?

The worst part about it is, pretty much every parent has the tools to do it. All you need is a smartphone and an internet connection and it is largely unregulated. Any parent nowadays who has the connections to be able to push their kids on stage or screen is net with a plethora of rules around working hours, education requirements, chaperoning, financial regulations. These don’t exist for anyone who wants to put their children on the internet for content.
The sooner governments realise this and do more to deal with it the better.

Not that different. Jon Benet Ramsey. Pushing her into the public arena, putting her life in danger.

I find it really odd that family bloggers have to show their children’s faces. Surely you can document things like meal prepping, routines, budgeting, cleaning etc without showing your children’s faces. I like to see how other families do things like I said above, it helps me think about how to do it for my family, but I’d rather not see pictures of their children whilst they do it.

I'm not quiet sure how the government can create legislation around it?
Working hours unless kids are being filmed opening toys like Ryan's world how do you define what they do as work?

Content where is the line between normal family videos and content?
Lots of people travel, lots of people have family in either other parts of the country or other continents social media is a great way to keep those links alive.

I don't get why people want to take photos of ill children. I stopped my MIL doing it because I had a horrible feeling it would be shown round her pals or end up on FB.
She said it was to show Granddad well if he cared that much he could have visited the poor kid in hospital too.

Must be like living in the Truman Show.

Yes.

Let’s not forget the Kardashian’s! North west is already being pimped out by kris and Kim! Notice you don’t see much of the boys though? It’s the girls they want to make money off of!

I know she’s not a celeb but there’s a Scottish influencer whose son is autistic and non verbal and I think it’s horrifying he’s plastered all over her Tik Tok and can’t give his consent. I get she frames it as ‘educating people’ but it’s just so wrong, and monetising it all too.

The youngest boy looked very unhappy in some of the Christmas pictures. I got a vibe of "who is this woman" from the youngest two kids.

I was talking about this to my son who is 23 last night.
He is of the opinion that it’s really out of order for for parents to put pictures on social media of their children full stop.
He said even when he was at school 6 years ago so many kids were being bullied with pictures they’d found on Facebook of classmates in the bath or playing dress up that there parents had posted years before.
I was also taking to my stepdaughter (16) recently about a girl who used to review toys on YouTube with her dad as
a young child (Tiana Wilson)
My step daughter is of the opinion that it probably causes issues for children like bullying and anxiety but she also said if she’d been given the choice of being bullied at school or having 3 million at 18 years old via YouTube than she’d take the money.

I think the point is that children are too young to consent to being monetized in this way. I think if they were asked, most children would choose the money, like your step-daughter. What child wouldn't want to be rich? But they are too young to realise the cost. (And there can be a significant cost.)

I think Ruby Franke is a good example. Her mother made significant money as an influencer. Ruby initially bought into it as a child and only gradually started to realise how intrusive some of the videos were. However, if her mother hadn't also been physically abusive, maybe the children would still be on board, who knows? The point is that as it is, they have no choice and no say in it, and that is wrong.

This is pretty hyperbolic.

Most times parents take videos like that, they're being shared with family and friends. And even if their settings are public, it would take a pretty determined person to trawl through years of insta or FB posts to find one of someone crying over an ice-cream as a 2 year old.

And yeah, I really couldn't give a fuck if my colleagues saw photos of videos of me as a child, why would I?

I can see that the whole family influencer thing is problematic, but for the average person this is really not the issue you are making it out to be.

It is an issue. There was a boy at my sons school (secondary) who’s classmates had taken it upon themselves to look on his mums Facebook, screenshot an old picture of him in the bath, print it off and post it around the school as well as Snapchat.
My son said things like this were pretty common place when he was at school 6/7 years ago, I should imagine it’s even worse now.

The Ruby Franke case was horrific. I agree with you though and it’s easy for my step daughter to have her opinion because she’s a teenager.
A couple of weeks ago I saw that Mark Owen (Take That) had shared a tagged video of his daughter singing after keeping her out of the limelight for her childhood. She instantly gained a massive following so it has its perks but I do think Mark Owen was right in waiting until she was older before doing this.

As an adult perhaps but as a self conscious teenager giving your bullies free access to video of you as a toddler having a tantrum, potty training, wearing sad beige clothing, is a wholly other level of exposure.

I agree with you. It's just not appropriate. Harper, and others, deserve a private childhood.

Yeah I remember the first one very well. That really got to me. I had heard of the Hart family before the suicide-murders so it really got to me.

I was duped. I’m definitely more discerning now.

I feel adopted children are more susceptible to this as well since it’s used by their parents as a “USP” as it were. They know a lot of people on social media feel all fuzzy and warm when they hear about adults adopting kids and don’t look any deeper.

But would you give a fuck if your child's photo that you put out there if her in her pants crying over a dropped ice-cream or whatever, was printed out at her school by a group of bullies and she walked into school to see that??

I’ve seen a few of his, him taking sweets when not allowed and stealing money from his dads wallet and his mum thinking it’s funny!

As you say, I think we will see more & more of this. I think it must be particularly difficult for those teens & tweens in families many economic levels below the Beckhams who know that the family’s income - and certainly a lot of the holidays and fun experiences - is dependent on them looking cute and providing material. I can scarcely get my teens to smile for a photo these days (obviously they take hundreds with their friends!) so I can’t imagine what it’s like for those who are feeling forced to play happy families.

Oh gosh the sarconeyjoleys…I remember they posted a video years ago saying that they forced their little girl to have cold showers every time she smeared a bit of poo while potty training….so cruel and abusive