Child Protection over Friends Only Facebook Pics

[HarrietSchulenberg]

At the nursery Christmas play parents were asked not to put photos on the internet in order to respect the privacy of other parents and children. I take internet security VERY seriously due to my paid work and that of my H, which requires absolute confidentiality. I am also a School Governor.

I put some pictures of my son on Facebook. My photos and profile are accessible only to my Friends, which comprise of a very small group of personal friends and family. The photos did not contain any reference to the school, the children (other than my son's first name), year group or other identifiable information. I never tag photos.

I received a phone call from the Child Protection officer from the School today. My photos had come to their attention and I was formally reminded of the need for internet security.

Through a process of elimination of my Facebook Friends (wasn't hard) I have worked out who is responsible. I am very hurt and surprised that this person has put me in this position, seeing as her own internet security is, at best, lax.

Have I been very stupid, or AIBU to think that I have not breached any child protection measures? I could just have well have printed the pics and shown them round at the school gates.

How is showing a few friends & family the photos on FB any different to showing them to your friends in person? If your privacy settings are set right, no-one else can see them.

Or are hard copies to be viewed by the parenst only too

YABU, and it's fairly likely that as a result the school will now ban all photography at school events. My DC's school does not allow photography by parents within school grounds, in answer to the query aboout what they do if you ignore the ban, they would ask you to leave and possibly contact the police.

There is a refuge in our community for women fleeing domestic violence. These women's children go to our school so if one selfish parent put photos of these children on the internet it would pose a very real risk for both the children and their mums. You are being very naive if you believe that your privacy settings ensure that your photographs are protected.

Why did you need to ignore the request? It's not one rule for you and one for everybody else is it?

'If your privacy settings are right'

How do you propose the school checks that? Or that the photos don't get copied by a friend and shared on an account with laxer settings?

Niceguy2 - one scenario where ?putting a photo of a school play with kids in it becomes a risk to said kids? could be if there are children in the photo who are in the care system, or have been adopted. If those children can be identified on the photo (and the op hasn?t yet made it clear if there are other children in the photos) then their location could also be compromised. This may sound ?unrealistic? to you, but I do know of cases where this has happened when families have adopted in geographical areas close to birth family members.
Madugherdecsout - even if your privacy settings are high, and only certain friends and family members can see the photos, there is no way of the OP policing whether or not a friend leaves their facebook logged in, or if their family members have access to it. Equally, as someone else said, they could reproduce the photo by copying it and sharing it on their own page with no privacy filters.
If it is the recommendation of the school, then it should be adhered to. And even if you don?t agree with the reasons, challenging the decision-makers by talking to them and asking for a discussion on why this policy is in place, would have been more respectful and appropriate than defying them

When I was at school many years ago, our school nativity photos appeared in the local newspaper (a daily paper with a circulation of around 18,000) as did various other school photos, some of which were named (although to be fair, they did normally spell the name incorrectly!).

Other than the fact that these were photos taken by a newspaper photographer, how is the current situation of putting photos on facebook with very limited access any worse?

What's that got to do with the issue of posting photos on the internet?
The school didn't stop photos being taken, and if they are selling back to parents they are not doing it through facebook, are they?

Rules for newspapers publishing photos, they have to have permission from every parent of a child in the photo.

I actually thought the rules for newspaper photos said "Pupils must not be approached or photographed at school without the permission of the school authorities."

Nothing about parents. My parents never gave permission for these photos to appear in the newspaper (not that it was a problem). These photos were also available for anyone to purchase, once in the newspaper.

'When I was at school many years ago,'

Sorry to break it to you tyler, but you iz old girl and times have changed

My kids have appeared in the newspaper numerous times without permission! Whole class photos quite often appear.

Then your school's child protection policies are not as good as they should be, and if it's a problem for you, you should get them to tighten up.
Photos on website, if it's the general one, in my school children should either have permission given, or be unidentifiable. We post photos on our VLE which is password protected.

Personally I don't give a stuff, and my children's photos have appeared in all sorts of things including publicity materials for college. But it matters to other parents so it's my job to be careful.

What would you think if you read this OP:

"We had a letter from the school just before the nativity requesting that we didn't put any photos from the nativity on the internet. One of my friends is a governor at the school and she posted pics from the nativity on facebook.

AIBU to think it's totally shit that she seems to think that there is one rule for her and one rule for everyone else?"

NB... I'm sure I read in the paper the other day that Michael Grove (maybe, can't remember which minister it was) wrote to all the schools and said that they cannot ban parents from taking photos at events.

On this specific incident alone, so as not to digress into the issues of phtographing children in schools or FB privacy settings, YABU if there are other children in the photos as to me this is a direct violation of what the school requested (whether or not you agree with them is largely incidental), but YANBU if it just your DS in the photos.

Tbh, until you have clarified this, it's hard to evaluate definitively either way.

Oh and forgot to add... YABU

Op- Can you please answer the question: Were other children visable in the phots?

If the answer is yes then YABU. You above all other parents clearly know the rules, why on earth you think you can breach them is beyond me. If you really don't know the difference between showing close friends pictures of your child at the school gates and posting pictures on the internet, then I question your ability to function as a school governor.

Lets make it clear it doesn't matter how "secure" you believe your internet security settings are. The pictures once posted can in reality be seen by people whom you do not know. Savvy hackers can literally trash trough any "security" set by facebook, really they can.

It's rather like saying but MY car cannot have been stolen because it is locked and the thieves don't have the keys. Do you understand what I am saying.
You need to answer the question about were other children in the pictures. Please do not do this again. It is because of people like you that public buildings/schools ban the taking of pictures/videos and spoil it for everyone.

So should we just relax all controls and deal with the fallout for the vulnerable children who need protection?
Or just issue Michael Jackson-style face veils for some?
Or ban them from being in photos?
Or control the media so that the school issues photos with selective blurring?
What's the answer?

Sorry...you were wrong. I do not put any pics of my kids online..even just for friends and family so I resent others thinking they can do so.

Funny thing is, I read the first line of the OP and presumed it was going to be her going ape because some other norty mammy had published photos of her child on FB.....what with her being all specked up on internet security an' all.

I do think the world has gone mad with regard to all this, but because there are rules, they need to be respected...and the world has gone mad to protect maybe just that one child in the nativity whose mother is on the run from a violent father.....

So, yes, OP, YABU and also a leetle bit smug in your casual disregard for other people whilst bleating on yourself about taking-these-things-seriously.

If you ever return to the thread, please answer the other posters' questions- then I can half-apologise to you if necessary.