Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Flip

1 2 3 4 5

Original poster

Teacher using pictures of class on her own social media

118 replies

Supermagicsmile · 03/12/2017 09:46

I am willing to accept I am being unreasonable if you think I am but my gut reaction is that I'm not.

My friend is a teacher who uses social media to show the type of activities she is doing with her class. She always takes the pictures before/after school and never includes the children. She follows other teachers who do the same (although some do include pictures of the children with faces blanked out.) She has spotted my dd on her teacher's social media account with pictures of the children on. (Their faces are blanked out) but I am still not happy about it. She knew it was my dd because of her hair bow in her hair which I made!

I have checked what we signed and no where does it mention their images being used for a teacher's own social media. I have seen it for myself and no where does it mention the school or link back to their main account so it's definitely not affiliated with them.

AIBU? Would you speak to the teacher or go to the head? I don't want the teacher to get in trouble but I would like her to be told what is and isn't appropriate without permission!!

OP posts:

sagamartha · 03/12/2017 10:48

When it is illegal I will obviously give that my most serious consideration

I don't think it will be illegal if the parent gave general consent to share photos prior to May 2018.

TabbyMumz · 03/12/2017 10:49

Sagamartha....that is correct. That is my understanding too. So if after May 2018, this teacher or any teacher shares photos of kids on their own social media and haven't got specific permission from parents, they could be fined. As far as I know there is nothing that says "oh but it's alright if you scribble out their faces".

sagamartha · 03/12/2017 10:51

As far as I know there is nothing that says "oh but it's alright if you scribble out their faces

Depends on the definiton of personal data, sensitive personal data, potential loss to the individual.

Uokbing · 03/12/2017 10:53

I am always really careful about sharing photos anyway (sometimes in these situations there are grey areas, eg. A big crowd of children in the back ground of a photo where you can barely make out their faces but if you zoomed in or had software to refine the photo or something you could probably recognise them) because on top of everything else I have to do I just can't be arsed with trying to sort out those sorts of fuck ups as well.

My mantra in this is 'if in doubt, don't!'

Stargirl82 · 03/12/2017 10:54

I reiterate what liverbird says. Teacher first, then if it continues/not addressed then go to the head. If a parent has an issue, talk to the teacher first!!

TabbyMumz · 03/12/2017 10:56

The new rules are here in five months time, so would be very sensible to update yourselves with them.

HonestTeacher · 03/12/2017 11:01

The main concern is not that she has posted the picture of your DD as she is not going to be recognised by most people (only a handful of people who recognise her hairbow).

As the account is not connected with the school, the teacher has probably taken the pictures with a personal device which is the real concern. Every school I have worked at has this in their staff policy. You cannot take pictures of children on your own phone/camera. Obviously most of teachers are not dodgy perverts who want pictures of children for horrible reasons, but by having the pictures on a personal device, she is allowing herself to be vulnerable for such allegations. If you are uncomfortable I would mention to the teacher I had seen the picture and ask what the policy is regarding it. I wouldn't want to get them in trouble by going to the head as it could be blown into something much bigger when this teacher only really wants to share Her teaching ideas.

ThunderboltsLightning · 03/12/2017 11:11

If your daughter's face is blanked out i really don't see the problem. Your friend was able to identify your daughter because she recognised the bow and presumably knew what school she attends and maybe who her teacher is.

HousefulOfBoysAndMe · 03/12/2017 11:21

Every school I have worked at has this in their staff policy. You cannot take pictures of children on your own phone/camera

Not at my dc's school.

The Year 1 teacher is photo mad. She's a fab teacher and takes photos of everything on her own iPhone which she then tweets (from the school twitter account) and puts on fb (again from the school account).

Every parent I know looks forward to 'Mrs X year' because it's so nice to actually see what your dc are doing.

Other teachers post the odd pic of a school trip but rarely anything from the classroom but with Mrs X they're almost like parent photos...she'll do group shots of trips or them doing xyz or shots of 4 of them at a time in the class, but also catches the comedy moments. Like when my ds opened a pot of poster paint and literally drenched his whole face and hair in it. The picture of him, bright green with a massive smile is one of my all time favourites. Personally I love it and I think it shows a real fondness for the kids she teaches.

TabbyMumz · 03/12/2017 11:36

Housefulofboysandme.....yes, that is lovely, and there is no reason that sort of thing has to stop as long as all the parents have given permission, and it only appears in the places they have specifically given permission for. If she puts all of that in her own private twitter in five months time and hasn't gotten permission for that she can be fined or disciplined.

BewareOfDragons · 03/12/2017 11:37

The school should be quietly advised of what she is doing and asked what it's policy on this is.

Many schools have their own facebook pages, and they post pictures of children they KNOW are allowed to be on social media, photographed etc. They don't publish pictures of children who aren't allowed to be published.

Personal FB pages? No way.

Sunshineface123 · 03/12/2017 11:43

I'm a teacher and a parent and I have to say I wouldn't be happy with this either. It does show a real lack of judgement on the teachers part, it's well known that you never share anything identifying about children on a personal social media page. Faces blanked out isn't enough. If I were you I'd ask to speak to the year lead/deputy head and share your concerns. I really don't think the school will be happy with that.

coddiwomple · 03/12/2017 11:51

moral of the story is to never use your real name on social media, and chose very carefully who your friends are

Masonbee · 03/12/2017 12:02

I think if nothing else this thread had shown this is a real grey area. some people are unhappy about the way it's handled.
The school should be made aware so they can clarify what is and isn't allowed for everyone's sake. It may be that they decide that the teacher's actions are absolutely fine and nothing changes but at least the teacher will know s/he has the support of the school, will remember to blur out any other identifying aspects (e.g.hair bow as well as faces), the head will be prepared to answer questions if they arise and the OP will know what is and isn't allowed and why - and can (for example) choose not to send her DD in with identifying hair bow if she wants to (not saying she should, just that if she knows what the deal is she can then make her own decision).

As a (former) teacher I wouldn't do this as there is clearly a lot of potential for problems /misunderstandings but if I did I would want to make sure it was all transparent and I had the backing of the head. It sounds like this teacher is doing it for all the right reasons but may not have thought through all the implications.

For the teachers using own devices to take photos, I am really surprised by this. Since the horrific case a few years ago where staff at a nursery used their phones to take explicit images I just wouldn't risk it at all. The Y1 teacher who takes great photos for school fb could just as easily use a school camera for the same shots and every school I've worked in would not allow her to use her own device. It's just not worth it.

RaspberryOverload · 03/12/2017 12:42

Teacher put photos of children with faces blanked out: people get outraged. Why? Who is going to recognise the children in the first place, and what if they do?

It's not enough to blank faces, actually. Most people can recognise others from more than their faces. I certainly can, I'm pretty good at identifying people when I can't see the face.

In this case it's a bow, something that can be altered. But what if it was a child with something permanent? An obvious disability? Blanking the face in that case is going to do diddly squat to prevent recognition.

And as for potential harm? There are many children who for one reason or another shouldn't be identified, and that should be respected.

I was okay with some pictures of my DCs being used on the school's official site, and also with the photos and devices being used at the Scout Group, because it was all known about and agreed. But a personal account like this? No, I wouldn't be so happy.

TheHungryDonkey · 03/12/2017 12:46

The last school I worked at, no phones were allowed out of the staff room. Teachers couldn't even keep their phone in the classroom turned off, in a desk or drawer.

Whilst that's the other extreme, the teacher in the OP really shouldn't be doing what she's doing. It's really opening herself up to problems.

Original poster

Supermagicsmile · 03/12/2017 13:02

I am surprised so many people are okay as their D.C. Couldn't be identified. It's not so much about her being identified, it's fact it's been done without permission. I am going to speak to her teacher tomorrow.

OP posts:

AnnetteCurtains · 03/12/2017 13:03

I echo what HungryDonkey has said
Have a quiet word with her OP

Pengggwn · 03/12/2017 13:07

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

grasspigeons · 03/12/2017 13:07

Can you speak to the teacher themselves if you like them and don't want them to get into trouble.
Personally, I don't think its appropriate for a teacher to share images of their pupils on social media - even if their parents have said its ok for the school to use images. It doesn't sound like an official school thing but a personal thing.

MaisyPops · 03/12/2017 13:08

AnnetteCurtains
I agree that a quiet word to chat about it is perfectly sensible.

Teachers don't mind reasonable people asking questions or clarification etc.

We only mind when people call us absolutely raging over half a story because they are usually rude and aggressive.

morningtoncrescent62 · 03/12/2017 13:10

I'm genuinely surprised that this has even happened. My DDs are long past school age, so I'm not up to speed with current expectations. But for the firm I work with, the guidance is not to post anything work-related at all, even if it seems completely innocuous, on your private social media. I thought that was pretty standard across most workplaces, and I'd have thought it was especially important for schools where the welfare of other people's children is concerned. I'm obviously out of touch.

crazycatgal · 03/12/2017 13:22

At the school I'm at this goes against the policy. Any photos taken within school are to be used within school or on school social media (with parents permission) and photos are to be deleted as soon as possible. Teachers aren't allowed to go home with pictures of the children on their devices.

Cleanermaidcook · 03/12/2017 13:23

Gosh we have to hand our personal phones in to the office as we enter the building and can check them at lunch only in the office (preschool) we certainly can't have them anywhere near the children, I thought thus was the same everywhere. Parents give/deny permission of pics to appear on our setting Facebook page and website but these have to be taken with 1 specific camera and the children's faces are blurred out. It wouldn't sit right with me if a teacher was using his/her own Tec in the classroom.

Pengggwn · 03/12/2017 13:27

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Flip

1 2 3 4 5

Swipe left for the next trending thread