I'm so upset - I've been Facebook shamed!

[Whatsthis1515]

We don't have much outside space, so I took my 3 youngest (8, 6 and 5) to the park to ride their bikes. The park is about a 10 minute walk away but we had to drive because my 8 year old has a broken leg (in a cast). We parked in the park's car park. There was no one there apart from us. The kids started biking on the grass but then they decided to bike round the carpark - smooth tarmac, so great to get their confidence up.

Anyway, after 30 mins we put the bikes back in the car and drove home.

I have just seen on our local Facebook group that someone has posted a short video clip of us (filmed from a distance, assuming from someone's bedroom window) and said 'Due to covidiots like his continuing to drive to our village to use our park, we are locking the gates to discourage it. If anyone knows these people please let them know we've got them on film!'.

I am mortified. The post has had about 20 likes, but a few people are saying that parks are open so they don't see the problem and that the government have specifically told councils to leave parks open.

Did I do anything wrong? I'm really shy so don't plan on responding to the post but I only drove there due to my daughter's broken leg, and secondly, we didn't see anyone and thirdly, now the park is not accessable to us because there is nowhere safe to park near it. We have now lost the use of our local park I just don't understand

Remember most people on that fb site may know the poster and they are no doubt known as a busybody and pain in the arse. They probably read it and roll their eyes.
Decide if you will feel better if you challenge them or ignore them. These things are very upsetting but try to be one of those people who just shake it off. I'm not one of those people either though.

@scochran your right, most people will know the busy body is an idiot, but why should OP shake it off? If no one stands up to these people then their over-inflated sense of ego will stay that way.

It's the twat himself that has locked the carpark gate. He also has the keys for the village hall. This clearly makes him feel very important

Is his name Taylor? Do you live in Stars Hollows? Are you the Gilmore Girls??

It’s not about wasting police time as somebody on here mentioned. As I’ve said numerous times, do it online. The incident will be logged and assessed. If police action is not required then no further action will be taken. I’ve also already said that the individual could be already known to police and maybe they need to know. The police employ people to assess these types of things.
He could be filming some more unsuspecting people ( children) again today.The idiot should also be made aware that some children are not allowed to be filmed or photographed for legal reasons, such as police protection or social services reason.

Report him to the council

God.I hate vigilantes we drove a few miles the other day to a local beauty spot under section 15 of government guidelines you are allowed to drive further for exercise if your child has autism and or learning disabilities d's has severe autism and learning disabilities I took his DLA award and blue.badge just in case we were asked which we were not,I would be furious if someone had filmed us.

So sorry to hear your experience, @Whatsthis1515, but glad for your positive outcome. To search for your local PCSO, I've found this page on www.police.uk/pu/contact-the-police/, which has a link for contacting your local force.

The council where I am closed the car parking areas for parks a couple of weeks ago

AllForAnEasyLife - normally don't agree with vigilantism but

This is probably resolved now, I hope the page admin has deleted the post.

For anyone else finding themselves in a similar situation with photos or videos of their families being published online on fb you can report it as a violation of privacy, particularly if your children are under 13.

m.facebook.com/help/383420348387540?helpref=hc_fnav

All those people saying it’s perfectly ok for a complete stranger to video children and post it on a social media site. Would you be perfectly happy if this were your children? I think the law needs updating. So many paedophiles around the world and we’re ok with our children’s images being shared on a worldwide website? I bloody well wouldn’t be.

Sorry I meant public website. Obviously I’ve got footage of my own kids on my own page but it’s private.

I would probably have told him that if be having words with the local police about the fact that I and my children were filmed and put on social medial without my permission. If only to put the frighteners on him a a bit. Even if it's not illegal it's certainly not morally right.

I'm glad you had a good result, op, well don't for speaking up for yourself and your children.

And as an aside, I can't stand the term 'covidiots'. Originally it was used to describe people acting very irresponsibly at the start of this lockdown but now it's used to shame people who can't necessarily stay inside all the time even if they're being responsible and social distancing when they're out.

The latest advice from the police is that you are allowed to drive a short distance to exercise if you spend more time exercising than driving. We drove a 2 minute drive the other day to park near the river and walk in the fields next to it. We didn’t walk there because we have a 3 year old who wouldn’t walk all that way then walk along the river or go in the pram without screaming. We saw significantly less people on our walk there than we do when we pound the pavements around our street

People are busy bodies. There are guidelines in place and they had to be idiot proof but it’s about common sense. All these idiots saying that you might have an accident etc. You might fall down the stairs at home. It’s utter nonsense. Go on and defend yourself. My son is severely autistic. We are allowed to drive somewhere for him to get excercise if it’s safer. These people have no idea of someone’s personal situation.